An assessment of the terrestrial mammal communities in forests of Central Panama, using camera-trap surveys

Abstract

The Isthmus of Panama, part of the planet's third largest megadiversity hotspot, and connecting the faunas of North and South America, has lost more than half of its forest partly due to economic development. However, it is unknown to what degree the remaining forest, which is fragmented and subject to poaching, still supports the wildlife diversity found in intact forests. Here, we use camera-trap surveys to assess whether forests in Central Panama, the narrowest and most disturbed portion of the Isthmus, still have intact communities of medium- and large-bodied terrestrial mammals. During 2005-2014, we collected camera-trap survey data from 15 national parks and forest fragments on both sides of the Panama Canal, and compared these to similar data from two sites in the intact Darién National Park in Eastern Panama, the nearest available reference. We found that most sites in Central Panama including some of the national parks had lower mammal species richness and evenness than the reference sites, and less structurally-complex mammal communities. Forests in Central Panama had little or no apex predators and large terrestrial frugivores, with the exception of two sites directly connected to the reference site. Our results indicate that the terrestrial mammal community in forests of Central Panama is currently degraded, even inside national parks. These data provide a baseline for evaluating the success of conservation efforts to prevent the Panamanian Isthmus to become a bottleneck for movement of animals.