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Seasonal use of waterholes and pathways by macrofauna in the dry forest of Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 February 2019

Victor H. Montalvo ,
Carolina Sáenz-Bolaños ,
Luis D. Alfaro ,
Juan C. Cruz ,
Flavio H. Guimarães-Rodrigues ,
Eduardo Carrillo ,
Christopher Sutherland  and
Todd K. Fuller
Victor H. Montalvo*
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Apdo. 1350-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
Carolina Sáenz-Bolaños
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Apdo. 1350-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
Luis D. Alfaro
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Apdo. 1350-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica
Juan C. Cruz
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Apdo. 1350-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA Osa Conservation, Apdo. 54-8203, Puerto Jiménez, Costa Rica
Flavio H. Guimarães-Rodrigues
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG 31270-901, Brasil
Eduardo Carrillo
Affiliation:
Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, Apdo. 1350-3000, Heredia, Costa Rica Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
Christopher Sutherland
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
Todd K. Fuller
Affiliation:
Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
*
*Emails: [email protected], [email protected]
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Abstract

Temporal and spatial scarcity of water in semi-arid and seasonal ecosystems often leads to changes in movements and behaviour of large vertebrates, and in the neotropics this dynamic is poorly understood due to logistical and methodological limitations. Here we used camera trapping to elucidate variation in patterns of seasonal use of waterholes and pathways by 10 large-mammal and four large-bird species in the dry forest of north-western Costa Rica. From 2011 to 2015, we deployed trail cameras at 50 locations, including waterholes and three types of pathway (roads, human trails and animal paths). We used Generalized Linear Models to evaluate the effect of location and seasonality on the rates at which independent photographs were taken. We found interacting effects of location and seasonality for the capuchin monkey (Cebus capucinus), the tiger heron (Trigrisoma mexicanum), the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and the tapir (Tapirus bairdii) suggesting that these species were the most influenced by waterholes during the dry season. Comparison of waterhole sites and specific types of pathways (roads, animal paths and human trails) showed that location influenced photo-capture rates of almost all species, suggesting a useful insight to avoid and account for bias in camera trap studies. Furthering our ecological understanding of seasonal water regimes and large vertebrates’ behaviours allow for better understanding of the consequences of climate change on them.

Keywords

Birdcamera-trappingdistributionGuanacastemammalwater
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , March 2019 , pp. 68 - 73
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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