Márcia M. A. Jardim

Primatology in southern Brazil: a transdisciplinary approach to the conservation of the brown-howler-monkey Alouatta guariba clamitans (Primates, Atelidae)

Human interventions in natural environments are the main cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. The situation is not different in southern Brazil, home of five primate species. Although some earlier studies exist, studies on the primates of this region began to be consistently carried out in the 1980s and have continued since then. In addition to important initiatives to study and protect the highly endangered Leontopithecus caissara Lorrini & Persson, 1990 and Brachyteles arachnoides E. Geoffroy, 1806, other species, including locally threatened ones, have been the focus of research, management, and protection initiatives. Since 1993, the urban monkeys program (PMU, Programa Macacos Urbanos) has surveyed the distribution and assessed threats to populations of Alouatta guariba clamitans (Cabrera, 1940) in Porto Alegre and vicinity. PMU has developed conservation strategies on four fronts: (1) scientific research on biology and ecology, providing basic knowledge to support all other activities of the group; (2) conservation education, which emphasizes educational presentations and long-term projects in schools near howler populations, based on the flagship species approach; (3) management, analyzing conflicts involving howlers and human communities, focusing on mitigating these problems and on appropriate relocation of injured or at-risk individuals; and finally, (4) Public Policies aimed at reducing and/or preventing the impact of urban expansion, contributing to create protected areas and to strengthen environmental laws. These different approaches have contributed to protect howler monkey populations over the short term, indicating that working collectively and acting on diversified and interrelated fronts are essential to achieve conservation goals. The synergistic results of these approaches and their relationship to the prospects for primatology in southern Brazil are presented in this review.

The Urban Monkeys Program: A Survey of Alouatta clamitans in the South of Porto Alegre and Its Influence on Land use Policy between 1997 and 2007

Abstract: Endemic to the Atlantic Forest, the southern brown howler monkey, Alouatta clamitans, can still be found in forest fragments in the metropolitan area of Porto Alegre, the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil. The Urban Monkeys Program (UMP) has been monitoring their numbers since 1994. Here we report on the results of the initial surveys carried out from 1994 to 1996 and discuss the variables that are determining the loss or survival of the howler monkey groups. We also examine how our results have influenced the politics of land use over the last ten years (1997–2007). Porto Alegre has an area of 47,630 ha. About 30% is a rural/urban matrix and the remainder is entirely urban. There are 44 hills in the municipality and all have been affected by human occupation and activities. We overlaid a grid on a map 1/50,000, with quadrates of 1 km2 divided into four quadrates of 500 m2 each. We surveyed all the quadrates that contained forest. The presence of howler monkeys was recorded by direct observation, the presence of feces, and by their vocalizations. Complementary information was obtained by talking to the local people. We used a field protocol to record the absence or presence of howlers, habitat quality and the extent and type of human disturbance or use. We surveyed 5,125 ha and found howler monkeys in 2,921 ha (57%). The physiognomy, altitude and connectivity with forest in other quadrates were the three predictors of the presence of howler monkeys. Reasons for this include the fact that human use for such as agriculture, cattle breeding, housing estates, and roads is more concentrated in the lowlands than in the more hilly areas. Our findings suggest that the brown howler monkeys of Porto Alegre live as a meta-population. We participated in forums to discuss land use and management decisions. UMP influenced the creation of 895 ha of municipal protected areas over the 10 years. UMP initiated a civil enquiry concerning problems of the electrocution of howler monkeys using power lines. Two years after, as a result, the Rio Grande do Sul State Electricity Company insulated the cables in the areas where they presented a hazard. In 2002, a bill of amendment was passed (municipal law no 482/99), which provided for tax exemption for landowners who conserve natural areas or use their land for agriculture. Our recommendations for the future include: 1) maintenance of the current rural matrix in the south of Porto Alegre; 2) the creation of the “Morro São Pedro Natural Park”; 3) the establishment of a federal strategy for primate conservation in urban areas in Brazil; and 4) the inclusion of a criterion concerning human population density in the areas of occurrence for the threatened categories of the IUCN Red List.

Ixodes spp. (Acari: Ixodidae) ticks in Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil

ABSTRACT Among the 251 described species of ticks from the genus Ixodes, only eight were previously reported in Brazil, Ixodes amarali, Ixodes aragaoi, Ixodes auritulus, Ixodes fuscipes, Ixodes loricatus, Ixodes luciae, Ixodes paranaensis and Ixodes schulzei. Of those species, I. loricatus is considered commonly found, whereas I. auritulus and I. aragaoi were registered just one time in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) state, Southern Brazil. This paper aims to update the Ixodes species occurring in RS through the investigation of the ixodofauna of small rodents. Data from 314 wild rodents were analyzed from nine municipalities of Pampa biome and five from the Atlantic Rainforest in RS. Rodents belonging to the following species were infested by Ixodes spp. ticks: Akodon azarae, Akodon montensis, Akodon paranaensis, Akodon reigi, Calomys laucha, Delomys dorsalis, Deltamys kempi, Holochilus brasiliensis, Oligoryzomys flavescens, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Oxymycterus nasutus, Scapteromys tumidus (Cricetidae) and Cavia aperea (Caviidae). The tick identification was performed based on morphological dichotomous keys, their updates and by molecular techniques. Considering the ticks from the rodents and those collected directly from the environment, 34 specimens of Ixodes spp. were collected. Our results improved to five the list of Ixodes species that occur in RS: I. loricatus, I. auritulus, I. aragaoi, I. fuscipes and I. longiscutatus. Moreover, the finding of I. longiscutatus increases to nine the number of Ixodes species in Brazil. The occurrence of two species of the Ixodes ricinus complex (I. aragaoi and I. fuscipes) highlights the potential impact of Ixodes spp. ticks on public health.

Molecular survey of Rickettsia spp. in the Neotropical deer tick Haemaphysalis juxtakochi from Brazilian Pampa

Spotted fever (SF) is a tick-borne disease associated with Rickettsia spp.. In the Pampa biome, Southern Brazil, cases of SF seem to be strongly linked with the practice of hunting wild animals. An investigation of rickettsiae in tick species found on wild animals could provide more information regarding the rickettsiosis enzootic cycle. The aim of this study is to describe the results of a molecular survey of Rickettsia spp. in the Neotropical deer tick, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi Cooley, 1946 (Acari: Ixodidae), from the Brazilian Pampa. Ticks were obtained from 14 road-killed gray brocket deer, Mazama gouazoubira (Artiodactyla: Cervidae), found in nine different municipalities of Rio Grande do Sul state, Southern Brazil. Ticks were processed individually to obtain genomic DNA, and then Rickettsia spp. was investigated using a set of PCR reactions that amplified the rickettsial fragments of the gltA, ompA, and htrA genes. Of the 24 tick samples tested, DNA of Rickettsia parkeri sensu stricto (s.s.) was found in 11 H. juxtakochi specimens collected in two different areas of the Brazilian Pampa. This is the first report of R. parkeri s.s. (the main agent associated with SF in the Uruguayan, Argentinian, and Brazilian Pampa) in H. juxtakochi ticks. These findings indicate that R. parkeri s.s. may be much more common and widely distributed in the Pampa biome than previously assumed. Moreover, H. juxtakochi ticks and gray brocket deer could participate in the potential spillover of R. parkeri s.s. from endemic to non-endemic areas in the South American Pampa.

DETECTION OF BARTONELLA SP. IN DEER LOUSE FLIES (LIPOPTENA MAZAMAE) ON GRAY BROCKET DEER (MAZAMA GOUAZOUBIRA) IN THE NEOTROPICS

Abstract Louse flies or deer keds, Lipoptena spp., are widespread in Neotropical cervids, but the vector-borne pathogens of louse flies had only been previously reported in the Northern hemisphere. This is the first report of Bartonella spp. in deer louse flies (Lipoptena mazamae) in the neotropics collected from gray brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) in Southern Brazil. DNA from Bartonella sp. was detected in all 429 L. mazamae collected from 11 road-killed gray brocket deer. The same sequences of DNA of Bartonella spp. were identified in samples. Gray brocket deer are abundant in Brazil, so Bartonella-infected Lipoptena spp. may be widely distributed in the neotropics.