Paso Centurión is one of the most diverse areas of Uruguay. It is legally protected at local and national level, however, there are different interests competing for its land use and management. With the aim to document the biodiversity of the area together with the local people, the NGO JULANA has been conducting a participatory monitoring process with camera traps since 2013. Here, we present a list of 23 medium and large-size mammal species documented in the area and a standardised dataset of occurrence records. Top observations include the last Chrysocyon brachyurus seen in Uruguay, the first record of Herpailurus yagouaroundi in the country and the second report of Leopardus munoai in the area. We also highlight the frequent observation of numerous rare species such as Tamandua tetradactyla, Leopardus wiedii, Cabassous tatouay, Coendou spinosus and Cuniculus paca. Although the cameras were located within only a few metres of the houses of the local people, some of the rarest and most elusive species in the country were reported. This suggests a possible coexistence between people – their socio-economic practices – and nature in the area. Our work underlines the importance of the recent inclusion of Paso Centurión and Sierra de Ríos to the National System of Protected Areas under the proposed category of ‘Protected Landscape’. Collectively, in a context of global change and lack of biodiversity data on species distribution, we emphasise the value of these records for the knowledge of mammals in Uruguay and the need to extend and continue monitoring this area.

biodiversity conservation, participatory monitoring, species occurrence records

Paso Centurión, located in the department of Cerro Largo by the Yaguarón River (Fig. 1), is one of the richest areas of biodiversity in Uruguay (Soutullo et al. 2013, Brazeiro 2015). The region is characterised by an undulating topography with different types of native forest (Grela and Brussa 2003) and exotic plantations of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis W.Hill ex Maiden) (Achkar et al. 2010). Placed in the border with Brazil, its territory is marked by the presence of species from the Atlantic Forest, birds such as Cyanocorax caeruleus (Vieillot, 1818), Lepidocolaptes falcinellus (Cabanis & Heine, 1859), Phacellodomus ferrugineigula (Pelzeln, 1858) (Azpiroz et al. 2012; Vale et al. 2018), and plants such as Acianthera hygrophila (Barb.Rodr.) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase, Acianthera sonderiana (Rchb.f.) Pridgeon & M.W.Chase and Lepismium cruciforme (Vell.) Miq. (Rossado et al. 2014; Mai et al. 2019; Flora do Brazil 2020). Numerous of the rarest species of plants, vertebrates and invertebrates of the country are recorded in this area (Faccio and Achkar 2008) and present the southernmost limit of their natural distribution here. A total of 51 species of mammals have been recorded in Paso Centurión, representing 43.5% of the total diversity of the group occurring in the country and 60% excluding marine species (González et al. 2013; Grattarola et al. 2019).

Figure 1. 

Sampling locations (1–8) in Paso Centurión, Uruguay. Elaborated with ArcGis 10.5 Projection WGS1984.

Given the peculiar biological characteristics of this area, it has been legally protected since 2007 as a Departmental Reserve (Junta Departamental de Cerro Largo 2007) and categorised as ‘Rural Natural Protected Soil’ since 2016 (Junta Departamental de Cerro Largo 2016). Additionally, the area of Paso Centurión and Sierra de Ríos has recently been declared ‘Protected Landscape’ by the National System of Protected Areas (SNAP) (Ministerio de Vivienda, Ordenamiento Territorial y Medio Ambiente 2019), and it is now – for the first time – undergoing the phase of Management Plan definition. The primary objective of the proposed conservation category is “To protect and sustain important landscapes/seascapes and the associated nature conservation and other values created by interactions with humans through traditional management practices” (IUCN 2020a). In this regard, the locality is populated by nearly 129 families, spread over an area of 630 km² (Dirección General de Desarrollo Rural 2018). The main socio-economic activity in the area is small-scale livestock production and subsistence farming (Papadópulos et al. 2008). Yet, in the last decades, the population has gradually decreased and aged given, amongst other causes, the emigration of families as a result of changes in land use from traditional agriculture to forestry (Chouhy et al. 2019). Despite the competing interests over the use and management of the territory in Paso Centurión (i.e. conservation of biodiversity and local culture versus large private production), the condition of geographic isolation of the locality, together with the low-impact production practices implemented by the local people, have resulted in a highly conserved biodiversity hotspot (Chouhy et al. 2019; Grattarola et al. 2016).

Since 2012, a participatory monitoring process has been established in this locality by the non-governmental organization (NGO) JULANA (Bergós et al. 2018). This is an association of early career researchers and professionals with diverse profiles (e.g.: environmental education, genetics, zoology, conservation, ecology, bioengineering and psychology) that seeks to approach the territory through a critical environmental education framework (Sauvé 2005). During the past 8 years the organisation’s work has involved addressing different socio-ecological aspects of the tension between conservation and production in the rural area of Paso Centurión. Activities have focused on aspects of human-wildlife relationships, valuation of local knowledge, livestock production with Holistic Management, and ecotourism initiatives, amongst others. The use of camera traps in the area was introduced in the project ‘Fogones de Fauna’ (Bergós et al. 2018). The emphasis of the activities in this project has been on documenting the biodiversity knowledge of Paso Centurión, along with the relationships of the local community with nature, using camera traps as recording methods and the local mammal fauna as the focal point of the dialogue.

Despite the importance of the area for the conservation of mammals in Uruguay, the group has been poorly studied here. Therefore, this work aims to report the mammal species recorded in Paso Centurión by JULANA’s monitoring activities between 2013 and 2017, including, amongst other relevant records, a new species cited for Uruguay (Grattarola et al. 2016). Also, we present notes on a series of observed behaviours, relevant for the conservation of the species and ecosystems associated to the area. Finally, a standardised and open access dataset of the occurrence records collated is provided (Grattarola et al. 2020), a resource which can be used by the scientific, governmental, and environmental bodies for research, conservation planning and future decision making.

In 2013, eight trap cameras (Bushnell Trophy Trail Camera and NatureView Cam HD) were set, covering an area of 25 km² within the surroundings of Paso Centurión (Fig. 1; Table 1). All cameras were adapted with an external re-chargeable 6V battery for power supply. The management of the cameras and records was carried out by JULANA members, the landowners where the cameras were set, and other people from the local community involved in the monitoring process. It included the decision-making about the location of the cameras, the maintenance of the equipment, as well as the identification of the species recorded and the analysis of behavioural features. Cameras were placed on native forest patches associated with freshwater streams, no farther than 2000 metres from the houses of the landowners so that they could be easily monitored. Parameters were allowed to vary greatly because the main aim was placed in exploring the tool. Some were set to take photos, others to record 10-seconds videos and, in other cases, 3 photos were obtained together with a 10-seconds video after a 5-seconds interval. After exploring varying parameters, a procedure was established for the installation of cameras traps in new places. The camera was first set to take photos. After a period of time active, the data were collated and by exploring the records the place was assessed in terms of the behaviour of animals passing by and the livestock load (cattle, horse, sheep and pig). If the last was too high (i.e.: more than half of the total records), the camera was moved to a new location or pointed at a different direction. If the camera was generally clear of livestock records and the spot was detected as a place of animal crossing, then the camera was kept in the photo mode. However, in places where animals lingered in front of the camera, stopped to drink water or to eat, the camera was set to video mode or, if the model enabled it, a combination of three photos and a short video. In this way, the battery and card memory were optimised while the detection of non-domestic species and interesting behaviours were improved. Data were downloaded with a periodicity of every one to four months.

A list of mammals was assembled combining all the species recorded during the period of 2013 to 2017. The records from 2014 to 2016 of four sites (Fig. 1, sampling locations 1, 2, 3 and 8) were systematised and used by students for their undergraduate thesis projects (Cavalli 2019; Rondoni 2019). These records were standardised and enriched following FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability) Principles (Wilkinson et al. 2016) to enable the maximum re-use of the data. The dataset with the primary biodiversity data including 1,690 records is available at the GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) portal (Grattarola et al. 2020). Scientific names, scientific names’ authorities and vernacular names were retrieved using the package ‘taxize’ (Chamberlain et al. 2020) and the American Society of Mammalogists Mammal Diversity Database as backbone taxonomy (ASM, 2020). To estimate the expected species richness, rarefaction and extrapolation of Hill numbers were performed using the R package iNEXT (Chao et al. 2014; Hsieh et al. 2016). A threshold of one hour was used to define independent detection events (Burton et al. 2015) and days were defined as sampling units. A sample‐size‐based sampling curve with 95% confidence interval computed by 1000 bootstrap replicates was generated considering all species.

A total of 23 medium and large-size mammal species were recorded, distributed in 7 orders and 13 families (Table 2; see photographic album at JULANA 2017). The most represented order was Carnivora (47.8% of the total number of species), followed by Artiodactyla, Cingulata and Rodentia (13% of the total species number each; Table 2). Pooled data from 8 survey sites summed a total sampling effort of 2,634 trap-days (Table 1), from which, in 604 days when at least one incidence was found, 1,041 independent photographs/videos were obtained. A sampling coverage of 99.6% (±0.3%) was reached. The estimated richness based on the sample‐size was 26 (±3). Additional sampling up to double the sample size is likely to yield 2 new species detections (Fig. 2).

Figure 2. 

Sample-size-based rarefaction (solid line) and extrapolation (dashed line) for the species sampling curve up to double the reference sample size, for mammals at Paso Centurión, Uruguay. The 95% confidence intervals (grey-shaded area) was obtained by a bootstrap method based on 1000 replications.

Three particular records resulted in the most relevant species observations: the first record of a Herpailurus yagouaroundi (É.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1803) reported in Uruguay (Grattarola et al. 2016), the last observation of a Chrysocyon brachyurus Illiger, 1815 in the country, and the second record of Leopardus munoai (Ximénez, 1961) in the area of Paso Centurión. The other native species were seen in more than one site, even the rarest and most range restricted such as Tamandua tetradactyla Linnaeus, 1758, Leopardus wiedii Schinz, 1821, Cabassous tatouay Desmarest, 1804, Coendou spinosus F.Cuvier, 1823 and Cuniculus paca Linnaeus, 1766. 40% of the observed species are considered threatened at the national level (González et al. 2013; Table 2). In addition, three exotic species were recorded, Sus scrofa Linnaeus, 1758, Lepus europaeus Pallas, 1778 and Axis axis Erxleben, 1777.

Numerous behavioural features were observed. Individuals of T. tetradactyla were seen carrying offspring several times. In one case, an individual almost the same size as the adult was observed. Likewise, Procyon cancrivorus G. Cuvier, 1798 and Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris Linnaeus, 1766 were similarly recorded in video format moving around with offspring and in family groups. P. cancrivorus was also reported displaying a “food-washing” behaviour, a pattern considered to be related to searching for aquatic prey (Zeveloff 2002). A P. cancrivorus specimen, together with Conepatus chinga Molina, 1782 and Mazama gouazoubira Fischer, 1814, were also registered feeding on fruits of pindó palm Syagrus romanzoffiana (Cham.) Glassman (Fig. 3). Regarding time partitioning behaviours, it was noted that the canid species appeared to be temporally segregated, with Cerdocyon thous Linnaeus, 1766 mostly active at crepuscular-nocturnal times, with a main peak between 6pm and 11pm and a second peak between 3am and 5am, and Lycalopex gymnocercus G. Fischer, 1814 most daily-active, with a main peak between 7am and 9am. This was not the case with felids, as L. wiedii and Leopardus geoffroyi d’Orbigny & Gervais, 1844 – the most abundant species within the group – were not seen at any delimited time of the day.

Figure 3. 

Mazama gouazoubira eating Syagrus romanzoffiana, recorded by JULANA’s trap camera in Paso Centurión, Uruguay (sampling location 3). Corrected timestamp 27^th March 2017. See photographic album at JULANA (2017).

This study provides the first open-access dataset of occurrence records of mammal species in Paso Centurión, a locality that stands out as one of Uruguay’s most biodiverse areas (Soutullo et al. 2013; Brazeiro 2015). The results have revealed the common presence of many species that are rare in the rest of the country (González and Martínez-Lanfranco 2010). Many of these are considered threatened at national level (González et al. 2013) and find their most southern distribution limits here (González and Martínez-Lanfranco 2010). Therefore, the locality embodies an area of high ecosystem value, critical for the conservation of species, many of them representative of the Atlantic Forest. Our work highlights the importance of the recent inclusion of Paso Centurión and Sierra de Ríos under the proposed category to the SNAP, one that also aims to preserve tangible and intangible historical and cultural values and contributes to rooting the inhabitants to the area.

All in all, this endeavour is an important contribution to the knowledge of biodiversity of mammals in Uruguay, especially for the poorly known and restricted distributed species. The records here reported, and in particular those with offspring, stress the importance of the area for the conservation of these species populations and open new questions such as which are the reproductive and foraging patterns of the animals present in the area. Likewise, it becomes pertinent to monitor the exotic species and assess the impact of their presence on native communities. As a perspective, new sampling sites should be taken into consideration, which include different habitat types and camera trap positions with respect to the ones here considered, to target mammal species not yet detected. There are still severe knowledge gaps on the distribution of species in the country (Grattarola et al. 2019). Thus, in a context of major global environmental change (IPCC 2014), habitat fragmentation (Haddad et al. 2015) and biodiversity loss (Cardinale et al. 2012), we highlight the value of enabling digital accessible knowledge and the need to extend and continue monitoring this area.

We thank neighbours, students and teachers of the Rural School No 16 of Centurión: Alicia Guerrero, Regina Lucero, Nelly Alanis and Mariana Olivera, and to Nilza Medeiros, the school aide; to the members of the Grupo Sociedad-Naturaleza (RETEMA-UdelaR): Andrea Garay, Lucía Bergós, Carlos Santos, Magdalena Chouhy, Javier Taks, their students, and Roberto Daguerre; and to the rest of the JULANA team: Magdalena Carabio, Lucía Bergós, Solana González, Alejandro Duarte, Gabriel Perazza, Daniel Hernández, Mariana Pírez , Lucía Gaucher and Juan Manuel Barreneche, for their support and field work. We thank Enzo Cavalli, Diego Flores and Marcela Rondoni, for their contribution with the species identification and the occurrence recordings, Lucía Gaucher, Daniel Hernández, Alejandro Duarte and Matías Zarucki for useful conversations on earlier drafts of this paper, and Patricia Mai for her botanical suggestions. We also thank Mercedes Pereira Machín for the English revision.