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Vol. 20 No. 28 (2011)

Tapirus terrestris occurrence in a landscape mosaic of Atlantic Forest and Eucalyptus monoculture in southeast Brazil

Submitted
10 July 2025
Published
2011-06-01

Abstract

Generally, fragmentation and habitat loss associated with permanent landscape-scale alterations such as roads, agriculture and other non-habitat areas can inhibit habitat connectivity, changing the spatial distribution pattern of species or modifying the movement of individuals among habitat patches. When landscape changes decrease forest connectivity, species that are unable to cross nonforested portions of the landscape, or “matrix”, can become confined to isolated forest patches, thus, reducing the overall population size and the probability of persistence, specially of large mammals. Thus, understanding how they use different elements of the landscape can help to define strategies of management and conservation. In an attempt to draw attention to these questions, we report evidence of movement of the lowland tapir across eucalyptus forests, unpaved roads, and Atlantic Forest fragments in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil.

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