Resumen:
Habitat disturbance leads to biodiversity decline and modifications in the landscape
structure and composition, affecting both dispersal movements and ecological processes
at different temporal and spatial scales. The Ecuadorian Tropical Andes harbour suitable
habitats for the distribution of a wide variety of species; however, there is a lack of studies
focused on mammal diversity and its association with the habitat attributes in the central eastern slopes. Here, we reported the diversity of terrestrial mammals recorded between
2019 and 2021 in a camera-trap monitoring study in the Candelaria and Machay reserves in the upper basin of the Pastaza River, Ecuador. We performed site-occupancy probability
analysis to assess the influence of spatial variables in the species’ occurrence and also,
based on natural marks, we reported preliminary findings in Andean bear individual
identification. We detected 22 species of terrestrial mammals. Alpha diversity was similar
between reserves with slightly higher species richness in Machay. Evenness indices
showed unequal species distribution, with the Andean bear and domestic dogs exhibiting
greater dominance. In addition, species composition was dissimilar between reserves,
where the species turnover mostly explained the beta diversity. We observed that Andean
bear and puma detections increased according to the natural vegetation cover. Conversely,
domestic dogs were frequently detected in cells with an increasing proportion of pastures
and crops. Additionally, we identified 26 Andean bears and six individuals recaptured
during our study. Our results caution about the disturbance derived from human activities
since we recorded unprecedented detections of domestic dogs in wild habitats.
Nonetheless, it highlights the importance of private conservation areas (e.g. Candelaria,
Machay and others) for supporting the occurrence and dispersal of terrestrial mammal
species between larger areas in the upper basin of the Pastaza River.
