MEDIUM TO LARGE-SIZED MAMMALS IN A HUMAN-MODIFIED AREA IN THE STATE OF SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

Abstract

Habitat modification is a major threat to biodiversity, in which the savanna-like Cerrado biome has been under high disturbances for the last decades. In Brazil, São Paulo state contains few native remnants of Cerrado surrounded by anthropogenic matrix. Here we report the medium and large-sized mammal species found in a private property of a rural area of São Paulo. Using camera trapping, we surveyed mammals from 2013 to 2018, and recorded 21 species of which five were exotic. The observed and estimated species richness were alike in the first year of sampling, but from 2014 onwards, the differences in richness increased. The most recorded species was the coati (Nasua nasua), followed by the puma (Puma concolor) and the giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla). The presence of exotic species indicates anthropogenic influence. Small natural remnants in private lands might work as ecological corridors, highlighting their importance in the southern domain of the Cerrado.