Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Conserv. Sci.
Sec. Animal Conservation
Volume 5 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcosc.2024.1401517
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in the Conservation of Neotropical Primates View all 4 articles

Characterization of forest fragments occupied by the Critically Endangered and endemic San Martín titi monkey (Plecturocebus oenanthe)

Provisionally accepted
Carina L. Rubio Vargas Carina L. Rubio Vargas 1,2,3,4Zoila Lasmit Cerón Cancharis Zoila Lasmit Cerón Cancharis 3,5,6Eckhard W. Heymann Eckhard W. Heymann 1*
  • 1 Verhaltensökologie & Soziobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum - Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 2 Soziobiologie/Anthropologie, Johann-Friedrich-Blumenbach-Institut für Zoologie & Anthropologie, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
  • 3 Proyecto Mono Tocón, Moyobamba, Peru
  • 4 School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • 5 Departamento Académico de Manejo Forestal, Facultad de Ciencias Forestales, Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Lima, Peru
  • 6 Centro Agronomico Tropical De Investigacion Y Ensenanza Catie, Turrialba, Costa Rica

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study describes the characteristics of forest fragments occupied by a Critically Endangered endemic Peruvian primate, the San Martín titi monkey, Plecturocebus oenanthe (Pitheciidae; Platyrrhini). We selected 45 fragments; 20 had already been surveyed in 2015 by the Proyecto Mono Tocón (six of these had been further split, resulting in 27 fragments); additional 18 fragments were randomly selected from satellite images. We surveyed these fragments for the presence of P. oenanthe and determined characteristics of the fragments (size, shape, tree density, canopy height) and of the landscape (distance to nearest fragment and road). We also examined changes in the number of fragments and in forest cover between 2015 and 2019. We encountered P. oenanthe in all surveyed fragments except for the smallest on (0.2 ha). Our findings suggest that P. oenanthe can persist in fragments with a wide range of characteristics, particularly with regard to size and tree density. Unless fragmentation continues and overall forest cover in the area diminishes further, the species may be able to persist even in a fragmented landscape, provided that the matrix allows for movements between fragments. However, persistence might not be over the long-term if groups are not reproductive, populations become too small, and reduced gene flow results in inbreeding.

    Keywords: Habitat Fragmentation, fragment occupation, Neotropics, Pitheciidae, Terrestriality, conservation, Amazonia, Peru

    Received: 15 Mar 2024; Accepted: 20 Jun 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Rubio Vargas, Cerón Cancharis and Heymann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Eckhard W. Heymann, Verhaltensökologie & Soziobiologie, Deutsches Primatenzentrum - Leibniz-Institut für Primatenforschung, Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.