Saturday, December 18, 2010

Mammals end of Phase 104

Since first being used for mammal track collection about a year ago, the Mammal Transect has undergone a lot of physical changes from a very low water table, to trail maintenance, to flooding. All of these things affect the number of species seen and tracks recorded. This phase we were able to successfully conduct 7 surveys, but the end of the season was seriously impacted by rain. Volunteers tackled waist high waters on some sections of the transect to collect data, check out the pictures from week 8, talk about dedication!

Of the 54 records of mammal activity documented along the transect, 30 of these were verified mammal tracks and the rest are confirmed via sight or sound identification. Species recorded included the Red Brocket Deer, Central American Agouti, Ocelot, Baird’s Tapir, White Lipped Peccary, White Throated Capuchin, and the Jaguar. Correlating with our Incidental Survey, the most common mammal species was the Mantled Howler Monkey whose deep howls can also be heard from base on a daily basis!


Overall for 2010, 319 mammal records were documented, of those, 256 were tracks. Additionally, during non surveys periods, volunteers also spotted a Northern Tamandua, a Kinkajou, and a Tayra! With the New Year we are planning on reestablishing some old trails which will hopefully lead to increased mammal activity documentation.

Species List
Red Brocket Deer - Mazama americana
Central American Agouti - Dasyprocta punctata
Ocelot - Leopardus pardalis
Baird’s Tapir - Tapirus bairdii
White Lipped Peccary - Tayassu pecari
White Throated Capuchin - Cebus capucinus
Jaguar - Panthera onca
Mantled Howler Monkey - Allouata palliata
Northern Tamandua - Tamandua mexicana
Kinkajou - Potos flavus
Tayra - Eira barbara

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