Reassessing the conservation status of the Amazon marmosets(Primates, Callitrichidae, Mico and Callibella)

• Grant number: 24/04863-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: February 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Laurence Marianne Vincianne Culot
• Grantee: Giovanna Rocha Bergamasco
• Supervisor: Anna Michelle Lawing
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Texas A&M University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/07833-0 - Geographic distribution and extinction risk of Amazon marmosets (Primates, Callitrichidae, Mico and Callibella), BP.MS

Abstract

Amazonia is the largest, most biodiverse, and important tropical forest worldwide. It provides essential ecosystem services for the functioning of global biogeochemical cycles, harbors around 10% of the Earth's diversity, including the highest number of primate species and forms with the Cerrado biome the largest ecotone on the planet. Despite the well-known importance of Amazonia for humans, wildlife, and biogeochemical cycles, its southern region is known as the "arc of deforestation" due to high rates of forest conversion into cattle ranching pastures and monocultures of soy and corn. Half of global deforestation in the last 30 years has happened in the arc of deforestation, increasing the extinction risk of arboreal species such as primates. This region is home to up to 52 primate species, most of still little studied. There are 16 species of marmosets of the genus Mico and Callibella which are endemic to the arc of deforestation and among the least studied among Neotropical primates. Very little is known even about the basic aspects of Amazon marmosets, such as their geographic distribution and, consequently, their risk of extinction. According to the IUCN Red List, three species of Mico are classified as Near Threatened, three as Vulnerable and one as Endangered. However, these categories are likely underestimated due to the scarcity of basic information for such assessments. Based on the work carried out so far in my master's research, which sheds light on the distribution of and habitat availability for Amazon marmosets based on a new dataset of occurrence records of all 16 species, the objectives of my internship in Texas A&M University are: (1) to reassess the conservation status of Amazon marmosets, (2) identify priority areas and species for conservation, and (3) to organize a workshop to discuss potential strategies for the biodiversity conservation in the arc of deforestation using Amazon marmosets as flagship species. This part of my master's project will generate a more refined knowledge about the risk and conservation status of the Amazon marmosets and identify the main threats to their habitat, priority areas and species for conservation. These data will be summarized in a framework for biodiversity conservation in the arc of deforestation to support and guide environmental public policies, such as the creation of protected areas and contribute for the National Action Plan for the Conservation of Amazonian primates.