Check List 13(4): 363-378, doi: 10.15560/13.4.363
Mammals and their activity patterns in a forest area in the Humid Chaco, northern Argentina
expand article infoMaren Huck‡, Cecilia P. Juarez§|, Marcelo A. Rotundo|, Victor M. Dávalos|§, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque§|
‡ University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom§ Universidad Nacional de Formosa, Formosa, Argentina| Proyecto Mirikiná, Formosa, Argentina¶ Yale University, New Haven, United States of America

Corresponding author: Maren Huck ( m.huck@derby.ac.uk )

Academic editor: Átilla Colombo Ferreguetti
© 2017 Maren Huck, Cecilia P. Juarez, Marcelo A. Rotundo, Victor M. Dávalos, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Huck M, Juarez CP, Rotundo MA, Dávalos VM, Fernandez-Duque E (2017) Mammals and their activity patterns in a forest area in the Humid Chaco, northern Argentina. Check List 13(4): 363-378. https://doi.org/10.15560/13.4.363
Open Access
Abstract
The Humid Chaco has a high mammalian biodiversity. As habitats are threatened due to exploitation and environmental degradation, protected areas can act as refuges for wild animals. In 2006, ca 1,100 ha of gallery forest were established as the “Owl Monkey Reserve” within the private cattle ranch “Estancia Guaycoléc”. The mammalian species richness and composition of the reserve was determined using direct observations, camera traps, and indirect evidence. The camera traps also allowed us to determine the activity periods of 20 of the species. Forty-two species were recorded. A fourth of those species (24%) are categorized under some risk of extinction in Argentina. While most species showed usual activity periods, 2 species (Mazama americana and Tayassu pecari) were not as exclusively nocturnal as reported from other sites, possibly due to reduced hunting pressure. The presence of various endangered species highlights the importance of protected private reserves.
Keywords
Camera trap, Formosa, gallery forest, mammalian diversity, species accumulation curve, species inventory