Abundance of the exploited red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina Rodentia: Dasyproctidae) on the island of Trinidad
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Luke Rostant
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Howard Nelson
Abstract
Despite their economic, ecological and cultural importance, few studies have examined the population size, distribution and trends of the red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina) on the island of Trinidad. This study reports densities of agouti on Trinidad during a three-year period, including two years of a moratorium on hunting. Diurnal transect surveys were conducted and density estimates were calculated using the DISTANCE programme and King’s Estimator. Density varied between 7 and 44 individuals/km2 between different sites, 19–28 individuals/km2 island-wide, and with two of four sites showing a potential decline in estimated density in the final year of sampling after hunting resumed.
Funding source: Green Fund
Award Identifier / Grant number: National Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, Wildlife and Livelihoods Project (NRCSWLP)
Award Identifier / Grant number: Activity 7
Award Identifier / Grant number: GF080000601
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the Environmental Management Authority of Trinidad and Tobago for their technical support in this study, as well as all of the community groups and NGOs that contributed to the surveys.
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Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
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Research funding: This study was funded through the Green Fund of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Planning and Development, project number GF080000601 entitled the “National Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, Wildlife and Livelihoods Project (NRCSWLP)” of the Environmental Management Authority, Trinidad and Tobago.
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Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Research ethics: This research was conducted using line transect methodology and did not involve the capture and handling of mammals that were the subject of research. Approval for the conduct of this research was requested and granted from the Forestry Division Wildlife Section of the Ministry of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries of Trinidad and Tobago. All national, international, and institutional guidelines were adhered to for the conduct of line transects for this research.
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© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Conservation
- Ansorge’s cusimanse in Angola: 100 years apart, new records contribute to the species known range
- Abundance of the exploited red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina Rodentia: Dasyproctidae) on the island of Trinidad
- Biogeography
- The roles of possible geographic barriers and geological events on the phylogeographic structure of the Eastern broad toothed field mouse (Apodemus mystacinus)
- First record of Blanford’s Fox Vulpes cana (Blanford, 1877) from Iraq
- New records and southern range extension of the Annamite striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi in Vietnam
- Ecology
- A pilot study of the use of dry dog food as an alternative attractant in mesocarnivore studies
- Seasonal diet composition of Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral) in Kajinag National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India
- Seasonal and daily activity patterns of mammals in the colony of great cormorants
- First North African record of a melanistic common genet (Genetta genetta Linnaeus, 1758)
- Albinism in Brazilian common opossums (Didelphis aurita)
- Evolutionary biology
- Brain size evolution in small mammals: test of the expensive tissue hypothesis
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- DNA barcoding of bats (Chiroptera) from the Colombian northern region
- Morphology and genetics concur that Anoura carishina is a synonym of Anoura latidens (Chiroptera, Glossophaginae)
- Taxonomy of Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina: the occurrence of the “mendocinus” lineage
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Conservation
- Ansorge’s cusimanse in Angola: 100 years apart, new records contribute to the species known range
- Abundance of the exploited red-rumped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina Rodentia: Dasyproctidae) on the island of Trinidad
- Biogeography
- The roles of possible geographic barriers and geological events on the phylogeographic structure of the Eastern broad toothed field mouse (Apodemus mystacinus)
- First record of Blanford’s Fox Vulpes cana (Blanford, 1877) from Iraq
- New records and southern range extension of the Annamite striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi in Vietnam
- Ecology
- A pilot study of the use of dry dog food as an alternative attractant in mesocarnivore studies
- Seasonal diet composition of Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral) in Kajinag National Park, Jammu and Kashmir, India
- Seasonal and daily activity patterns of mammals in the colony of great cormorants
- First North African record of a melanistic common genet (Genetta genetta Linnaeus, 1758)
- Albinism in Brazilian common opossums (Didelphis aurita)
- Evolutionary biology
- Brain size evolution in small mammals: test of the expensive tissue hypothesis
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- DNA barcoding of bats (Chiroptera) from the Colombian northern region
- Morphology and genetics concur that Anoura carishina is a synonym of Anoura latidens (Chiroptera, Glossophaginae)
- Taxonomy of Ctenomys (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae) in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina: the occurrence of the “mendocinus” lineage
