Common opossum population density in an agroforestry system in Bolivia

BENAVIDES, Camila; ARCE, Alejandro; PACHECO, Luis F.

doi:10.1590/1809-4392201903532

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Biodiversity and Conservation • Acta Amaz. 50 (3) • Jul-Sep 2020 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4392201903532 copy

Common opossum population density in an agroforestry system in Bolivia

Densidad de carachupas en un sistema agroforestal de Bolivia

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

ABSTRACT

The common opossum, Didelphis marsupialis thrives near human settlements. Understanding its ecology could help planning management decisions about this species, especially in anthropogenic landscapes. Yet, there are no density estimations for this species throughout its distribution range in Bolivia. We estimated the density of D. marsupialis in a rural agricultural community, where agroforestry plantations and fallows cover most of the land. We counted individuals in line transects and used DISTANCE software to calculate density. We covered a total of 70.21 km in 143 night counts, obtaining 38 records of D. marsupialis. We estimated a density of 0.30 individuals ha^-1 (SE = 0.062; range: 0.20 - 0.45 individuals ha^-1), with a mean encounter rate of 0.54 individuals km^-1. Encounter rate varied between habitats, with mean values of 0.20 in secondary forests and 0.64 in agroforestry plantations. Our density estimate is near the lower range of previously reported values for the common opossum in other countries. We argue that our results may reflect the response to the availability of food resources and predation pressure in agroforestry plantations.

Keywords:
Didelphis marsupialis; tropical agroecosystems; line transect; DISTANCE sampling

Trail	Length (km)	N surveys per transect	Effort (km)	N animals observed	Habitat type	Encounter rate
1	0.36	8	2.88	5	C	1.74
2	0.25	30	7.50	6	C	0.80
3	0.36	8	2.88	4	C	1.39
5	0.46	2	0.92	1	C	1.09
6	0.79	45	35.55	11	C	0.31
8	0.27	19	5.13	8	C	1.56
Sub-total	2.49	112	54.86	35		0.64
4	0.55	17	9.35	2	G-SF	0.21
7	1.50	2	3.00	1	SF	0.33
9	0.25	12	3.00	0	SF	0.00
Sub-total	2.30	31	15.35	3		0.20
TOTAL	4.79	143	70.21	38		0.54

Species	Common name	Local name	Encounter rates (ind km^-1)
Dasypus novemcinctus	Nine banded armadillo	Tatú	0.05
Mazama americana	Red Brocket deer	Huaso	0.09
Sylvilagus brasiliensis	Brazilian cottontail rabbit	Tapití	0.28
Cuniculus paca	Paca	Jochi Pintado	0.41
Didelphis marsupialis	Common opossum	Carachupa	0.54

Country	D (ind ha^-1)	Habitat	Survey method	Estimation method	Reference
	0.22 − 0.50	Secondary forest	Line transect census	DE	Charles-Dominiqueet al. 1981Charles-Dominique, P.; Atramentowicz, M.; Charles-Dominique, M.; Gérard, H.; Hladik, A.; Hladik, C.M.; et al. 1981. Les mammifères frugivores arboricoles nocturnes d’une forêt guyanaise: interrelations plantes-animaux. Revue d’Écologie - la Terre et la Vie, 35: 342-435.
French Guiana	0.45	Secondary forest	Live-trapping	CR	Atramentowicz 1986
	0.22	Mainly primary forest	Live-trapping	CR*	Julien-Laferrier 1991
Panamá	0.09 − 1.32	Secondary forest, primary forest	Live-trapping	CR	Fleming 1972Fleming, T. 1972. Aspects of the population dynamics of three species of opossums in the Panama Canal Zone. Journal of Mammalogy, 53: 619-623.
Venezuela	0.25 − 2.75	Open grasslands with scattered palms, low stature forest (in a ranch)	Live- trapping	CR	O’Connell 1979O’Connell, M.A. 1979. Ecology of didelphid marsupials from northern Venezuela. In: Eisenberg, J.F. (Ed.), Vertebrate Ecology in the Northern Neotropics, Smithsonian Press, Washington D.C., p.73-87. ^a,b
	0.25 − 2.50	id O’connell 1979O’Connell, M.A. 1979. Ecology of didelphid marsupials from northern Venezuela. In: Eisenberg, J.F. (Ed.), Vertebrate Ecology in the Northern Neotropics, Smithsonian Press, Washington D.C., p.73-87.	Live- trapping	CR	August 1984August, P. V. 1984. Population ecology of small mammals in the llanos of Venezuela. Special publications - The Museum, Texas Tech University, 22: 71-104. ^a
	1.00 − 2.00	id O’connell 1979O’Connell, M.A. 1979. Ecology of didelphid marsupials from northern Venezuela. In: Eisenberg, J.F. (Ed.), Vertebrate Ecology in the Northern Neotropics, Smithsonian Press, Washington D.C., p.73-87.	Live-trapping	CR	Sunquist et al. 1987
	0.90	Fallow, savanna, gallery forest (in a ranch)	Live-trapping	CR	O’Connell 1989O’Connell, M.A. 1989. Population dynamics of neotropical small mammals in seasonal habitats. Journal of Mammalogy, 70: 532-548.
Brazil	0.07	Continuous forest	Live-trapping	CR	Malcolm 1990
Brazil	0.80 − 2.20	Anthropized forest	Live-trapping	CR	Cáceres and Monteiro-Filho 1998
Costa Rica	0.43	-	-	-	Glanz 1982Glanz, W. E. 1982. The terrestrial mammal fauna of Barro Colorado Island: censuses and long-term changes, In: Leigh, E. G.; Rand, A. S.; Windsor, D. M. (Ed.). The Ecology of a tropical forest.Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, p. 455-468. ^c
Peru	0.13 − 0.30	Mature ever green tropical forest, disturbed by natural and selective logging	Line transect counts	DE	Emmons 1984
Bolivia	0.30	Agroforestry plantations, secondary forest	Line transect counts	DS	this study

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[1] * Corresponding author: camila.benavides_frias@leuphana.de