Invasion by domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in the Atlantic Forest: effects of habitat loss and agriculture intensification

Author(s)

Enrico Frigeri

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB)
• Defense date: 2013-08-15

Examining board members

Renata Pardini; Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz; Jean Paul Walter Metzger

• Advisor: Renata Pardini

Abstract

Biological invasions are considered one of the most important threats to global biodiversity. Domestic dogs, the most abundant carnivore in the world, are known to invade areas of native vegetation and impact wildlife through competition, predation and disease transmission. Drawing on two extensive dataset obtained through camera-trapping, this dissertation intends to contribute to the understanding of the causes and consequences of the invasion by domestic dogs of forests fragments and agroforests in the Atlantic Forest. The dissertation is organized into two chapters. In the first chapter, we use data from two rural landscapes of São Paulo Atlantic Plateau with different proportions of remaining forests, and (1) describe the management and the characteristics of dogs that visit forest fragments, (2) compare, between these landscapes, the frequency and time of visits, the size of groups of invading dogs, and the drivers of invasion intensity, and (3) investigate the impacts of invasion intensity on the distribution of native large mammals. In the second chapter, using data from an agroforestry mosaic in southern Bahia, we investigate (4) if the conversion of native forests into agroforests and agroforestry intensification favor the invasion by dogs, and (5) if invasion by these animals is more associated with human presence in agroforests than in forests. Our findings highlight that: (1) the intensity of the invasion by dogs in human-modified landscapes in the Atlantic Forest is extremely high, both in terms of the number of individuals and of visits and in terms of the number of occupied sites; (2) invasion is favored by the type of management, with dogs kept free, and seems to be strongly associated with the presence of humans; (3) invasion intensity negatively affects the distribution of a larger number of large mammals than the loss of 40% of forest in the landscape; (4) characteristics of forest fragments associated with habitat loss (quantity and quality of remnants) are more important than propagule pressure to determine the intensity of invasion; (5) management intensification in agroforests intensifies invasion. As intensification of agroforestry and other agricultural systems has increased globally and, despite the decrease in the rates of deforestation in recent years, most tropical forest remnants consist of degraded or secondary vegetation, the amount of areas susceptible to invasion and the damages caused by domestic dogs should increase in the future. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 11/03113-5 - Invasion of forest remnants by domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) in three Atlantic forest rural landscapes
• Grantee: Enrico Frigeri
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master