Following the trail of the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) in Argentina
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Following the trail of the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira)
in Argentina - extracted text
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THERYA, 2024, Vol. 15(1):17-27
DOI:10.12933/therya-24-5158 ISSN 2007-3364
Following the trail of the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira)
in Argentina: new locality records, activity patterns and habitat use
Daniela Rodríguez 1, 2, *, Rocio Fleitas Quintana 1, Diego Zeverini 1, Mariano Tagua 1, Jesús Luis Lucero 4 and Carolina Szymañski 2, 3
WITRAL, IADIZA, CCT CONICET Mendoza. Av. Ruiz Leal s/n, Parque General San Martín, CP. 5500. Mendoza, Argentina. E-mail:
mdrodrig@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar (DR); rfleitas@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar (RF); dzeverini@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar (DZ);
otagua@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar (MT).
2
Grupo de Conservación y Manejo, FCA, UNCuyo. Almirante Brown 52, Luján de Cuyo, CP. 5507. Mendoza, Argentina. E-mail:
mrodriguez@fca.uncu.edu.ar (DR); cszymanski@fca.uncu.edu.ar (CS).
3
Red de investigaciones en paisajes socio-ecológicos de tierras secas, IADIZA, CCT CONICET Mendoza. Av. Ruiz Leal s/n, Parque
General San Martín, CP. 5500. Mendoza, Argentina. E-mail: cszymanski@mendoza-conicet.gob.ar (CS).
4
Secretaria de Medio Ambiente de San Luis. Autopista Serranías Puntanas km. 783, CP. 5700. Ciudad de San Luis, Argentina. Email: jesusluislucero.85@gmail.com (JL).
* Corresponding author: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5325-0076.
1
The brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) is a species of neotropical ungulate that inhabits several countries in South America. In
Argentina, it is distributed in the northern portion of the country, while historical records do not mention it in the province of Mendoza. However, in the Categorization of Mammals of Argentina (2019), the NE of Mendoza is proposed as a potential distribution area of the species. In
this work we confirm the presence of the brown brocket deer in the province of Mendoza (locality of Desaguadero - RAMSAR Site), and we
also evaluate its activity patterns and habitat preferences. We established 1 km2 grids in three environments: salt flats, shrublands, and forests.
A camera trap (n = 38) was placed in each grid, active for 55 days between October 2022 and April 2023 for fauna survey. In addition, NDVI
values (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) were calculated from LANDSAT-8 images as an estimator of vegetation cover for each grid.
We obtained 25 independent records of 11 individuals (5 males and 6 females) from a sampling effort of 51,072 hours of camera operation
(2,090 night/trap = 55 night * 38 camera). The males were individually identified based on the presence of antlers, their size, dimension and
texture, while the females by their body size and gestation condition. In terms of activity patterns, we observed that these animals are most
active in the afternoon (16 to 19 hs) and morning (8 to 9 hs), avoiding the moments of greatest solar radiation (Rayleigh-test r = 0.99, p < 0.001).
NDVI was significantly different among the three environments (Chisq = 32.98; p < 0.001), with the forest having the highest vegetation cover.
Finally, generalized linear models with binomial distribution were used to evaluate the effect of vegetation on the presence of brown brocket
deer. We found that the higher the NDVI value, the higher the probability of presence of the deer (z = 2.27; p < 0.05). These results expand the
distribution of the species and increase the diversity of mammals for Mendoza province, which generates added value to the planning of the
proposed protected area for Desaguadero in the RAMSAR site Lagunas de Guanacache, Desaguadero y del Bebedero.
La corzuela parda (Mazama gouazoubira) es una especie de ungulado neotropical que habita varios países de Sudamérica. En Argentina se
distribuye en la porción norte del país, mientras que los registros históricos no la mencionan en la provincia de Mendoza. Sin embargo, en la
Categorización de Mamíferos de Argentina (2019) se propone el NE de Mendoza como un área de distribución potencial de la especie. En este
trabajo confirmamos la presencia de la corzuela parda en la provincia de Mendoza (localidad de Desaguadero - Sitio RAMSAR), y evaluamos
también sus patrones de actividad y las preferencias de hábitat en dicha provincia. Para los relevamientos de fauna se establecieron cuadrículas de 1 km2 en 3 ambientes: salares, arbustales y bosques. En cada cuadrícula se colocó una cámara trampa (n = 38) activa durante 55 días
entre octubre 2022 y abril 2023. Además, para cada una de las cuadrículas se calcularon valores de NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation
Index) a partir de imágenes LANDSAT-8 como un estimador de la cobertura vegetal. De un esfuerzo de muestreo de 51,072 horas de operación
de cámara (2,090 noches/trampa = 55 noches * 38 cámaras), obtuvimos 25 registros independientes de 11 individuos (5 machos y 6 hembras).
Los machos fueron identificados a nivel individual a partir de la presencia de astas, tamaño, dimensión y textura de las mismas, mientras que las
hembras por su contextura, tamaño corporal y condición gestacional. En cuanto a los patrones de actividad, observamos que estos animales
presentan mayor actividad durante la tarde (16 a 19 hs) y la mañana (8 a 9 hs), evitando los momentos de mayor radiación solar (Rayleigh-test
r = 0.99, p < 0.001). En los tres ambientes estudiados, el NDVI fue significativamente diferente (Chisq = 32.98; p < 0.001), siendo el bosque el
de mayor cobertura vegetal. Finalmente, se utilizaron modelos lineales generalizados con distribución binomial para evaluar el efecto de la
vegetación en la presencia de corzuela parda. Encontramos que cuanto mayor fue el valor de NDVI, mayor fue la probabilidad de presencia de
la corzuela (z = 2.27; p < 0.05). Estos resultados amplían la distribución de la especie e incrementan la diversidad de mamíferos para la provincia
de Mendoza, lo cual genera valor agregado a la planificación del área protegida propuesta para Desaguadero en el sitio RAMSAR Lagunas de
Guanacache, Desaguadero y del Bebedero.
Keywords: Activity patterns; brown brocket deer; forest; habitat use; Mendoza.
© 2024 Asociación Mexicana de Mastozoología, www.mastozoologiamexicana.org
NEW RECORDS OF Mazama gouazoubira
Introduction
The brown brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira), also
known as the “corzuela parda”, is a neotropical ungulate
species that inhabits various countries of South America,
such as Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina
(Silva-Caballero and Ortega 2022; Figure 1). This species
occupies a great variety of habitats and ecoregions, such
as the Chaco, Pantanal, Cerrado, Espinal, Bosque Atlántico,
Pampas, and Caatinga (Silva-Caballero and Ortega 2022;
and references in there). Due to its wide distribution and
ecological importance, the “corzuela parda” has attracted
considerable attention from researchers aiming to understand its biology, behavior, and conservation status. In
recent years, the “corzuela parda” had been categorized as
Least Concern, both internationally (IUCN; Black-Décima
and Vogliotti 2016), and locally in Argentina (CMA; Juliá et
al. 2019), Brazil (Duarte et al. 2012), Paraguay (Asociación
Paraguaya de Mastozoología y Secretaría del Ambiente
2017), and Bolivia (Aguirre et al. 2009).
The “corzuela parda” is one of the largest herbivores in
native forests of South America; it feeds on a wide variety
of species, being mostly a browser but with several pulses
of frugivory (Serbent et al. 2011; Silva-Caballero and Ortega
2022), thus becoming an important seed disperser agent. It
exhibits a predominantly solitary behavior although some
authors suggest the presence of complex social interactions, including territoriality and mating systems (Juliá
2002; Black-Décima et al. 2010). Its lifestyle is mainly crepuscular, with individuals primarily active during dawn and
dusk (Leeuwenberg et al. 1999; Rivero et al. 2005). The species’ adaptability to different environments has allowed it
to thrive across a diverse range of ecosystems, including
forested habitats, tropical and subtropical forests, as well
as grasslands and savannas. This species tends to occupy
areas in good conservation status (Periago et al. 2015), or
areas providing some cover, such as riverine forests (SilvaCaballero and Ortega 2022) becoming an important indicator species for assessing ecosystem health. However, “corzuela parda” also uses modified habitats like agricultural
patches-lots or fragmented forests (Juliá et al. 2019; SilvaCaballero and Ortega 2022). Despite its ecological significance, the brown brocket deer has faced numerous challenges, including habitat loss, fragmentation, and hunting
pressure, which have led to population declines in certain
regions (Juliá 2002; Juliá et al. 2019).
In Argentina, the “corzuela parda” had been recorded in
five biogeographic regions: Chaqueña, Espinal, Paranaense,
Monte, and Yungas (Chebez and Johnson 1985; Romero and
Chatellenaz 2013; Cirignolli et al. 2011), but most research
on life history had been done in the Yungas (Tucumán
province; Black-Décima 2000; Juliá 2002; Black-Décima et
al. 2010) and the Chaco regions (Códoba province; Periago
and Lyenaud 2009a,b; Serbent et al. 2011; Periago et al.
2012; 2015). Barquez et al (1991) mentioned its presence
in Mendoza province, but there were not accurate records
that prove its presence further west of the Desaguadero
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River (Juliá et al. 2019). According to Roig (1988; 1989) the
“corzuela parda” does not appear in historical records of naturalists who visited Mendoza, nor in regional archaeological records from the specialized literature. Recent studies
conducted in the Central-Eastern part of the province have
not yielded any records of this species, even using camera traps or in interviews with forest inhabitants (Moreno
2023). Recently, Juliá et al. (2019) published a distribution
map of the “corzuela parda” for Argentina, including a little
portion of the east limit of Mendoza province, which neighbors with San Luis province. Nevertheless, in their description they mentioned as doubtful the presence in Mendoza
because of the previous data.
In this paper, we confirm the presence of a new population of the brown brocket deer in the Eastern portion of
Mendoza province (Desaguadero locality), thereby increasing the number of native species for the province and adding a new taxonomic group to its previous biodiversity
records. We also provide information about the population inhabiting this new locality, their activity patterns and
habitat preferences. With this information we aim to underscore the importance of evaluating effective conservation
actions and management strategies to ensure the longterm survival and sustainable coexistence of the “corzuela
parda” with its changing environment in Argentina.
Materials and methods
Study site. This research is part of the project “Aportes científico – técnicos al proceso de creación y gestión de la Reserva
Natural Municipal Lagunas del Desaguadero, La Paz, Mendoza – ImpaCT.Ar Desafío N° 40” granted by Ministerio de
Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of Argentina. The project
focuses on the creation of a protected area around the Desaguadero River, through scientific-technical research which
links natural and socio-cultural assets of the area.
The study site is located in the Monte biogeographic
region, specifically in the Central-East of Mendoza province,
Argentina (Figure 1). The climate in this area is semi-arid to
arid, characterized by pronounced seasonality and a wide
daily temperature range. The average annual temperature
is approximately 17 °C. Precipitation is concentrated in
the summer and decreases from East to West. The mean
annual rainfall is around 300 mm (Labraga and Villalba
2009). Within this region, there are multiple streams of the
Tunuyán River that flow from West to East, forming an alluvial fan. The runoff is collected by the Desaguadero River
(Figure 1). The study area includes 2 dams or “azudes” constructed in 2014 on the Desaguadero River to temporarily
retain water.
A closed gallery forest, conformed mainly by Neltuma
flexuosa (Hughes et al. 2022; “algarrobo dulce”, ex Prosopis)
trees, occupied the banks of the streams. The floodplain
is covered by different plant communities, such as open
Neltuma forests of lower density and coverage, as well as
shrublands, and salt flats (Suplementary material 1). Typical species of Monte region, such as Larrea spp., Condalia
Rodríguez et al.
microphylla, Licium spp., among others, are present in the
area (Villagra et al. 2010; Del Olmo 2012). The study site is
adjacent to the Chaco Seco ecoregion, separated by the
Desaguadero river, and as a result, some species of plants
form the Chaco, such as Celtis tala (tala), Aspidosperma
quebracho-blanco (quebracho blanco) and Acacia caven
(espinillo), can also be found in the study site (Villagra et
al. 2010).
Sampling design. Grids of 1 km2 were established to
survey mammal assemblage in 3 main plant communities,
classified a priori according to their physiognomy as: salt
flats, shrublands and forests. Salt flats are open areas with
low cover of halophyte shrubs, such as Allenrolfea vaginata
or Suaeda divaricata. Shrubland community has a patchy
cover of shrubs, mainly composed by Larrea spp., Condalia microphylla and Lycium spp. Forest includes open forest and gallery forest where N. flexuosa is the main species,
accompanied by Neltuma nigra, Geoffroea decorticans, Capparis atamisquea and Larrea spp., among others. In the gallery forest, species incoming from the Chaco ecoregion are
also present, such as Celtis tala, Schinus fasciculatus, and the
exotic Tamarix spp.
Camera traps stations were placed in each grid according to logistic possibilities: 11 in shrublands, 15 in Salt flats
and 12 in forests (n = 38 stations) (Figure 2). Each station
contains 1 camera trap. Camera traps sampling was conducted in the period of highest population abundance of
the animal species, coincident with the wet season: ends of
spring 2022 and early summer 2023. Cameras were active
during a total of 55 consecutive days on each station, over
a 24 hs, period (2,090 night/trap = 55 night * 38 camera).
Camera traps (Browning Patriot) were mounted on a 0.50
m high backing and vegetation surrounding the detection
zone was cleaned to allow animal identification. The cameras took 3 consecutive pictures whenever animal movement was detected, with a 1 second delay between shoots.
Individuals were identified from photos based on presence
of antlers (size and texture), fur color, tail and body length
and other species specific physical traits (Silva-Caballero
and Ortega 2022).
Data Analysis. To shape the new distributional southern
limit of the species within Mendoza province, we used not
only records of camera trap but also opportunistic records
by colleagues of brown brocket deer next to the main road
Figure 1. “Corzuela parda” distribution in South America by Silva-Caballero and Ortega 2022. The square indicates the south-west actual distributional limit and the rectangle indicates the study site in Mendoza Province were new records of “corzuela parda” are located.
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NEW RECORDS OF Mazama gouazoubira
and i-Naturalist records published online. To evaluate daily
activity patterns, we defined independent events (or activity records) as camera trap photographs in which the delay
between two consecutive images of an individual exceeded
2 hours. With this information, circular statistic was used to
unveil the daily activity patterns of the “corzuela parda”. The
analyses were performed using R v.3.2.5 environment and
language (R Core Team 2023). The daily wind rose diagram,
which convert data into a circular object, was performed
with the “circular” package (Lund et al. 2022). To test for significant differences in the circular distribution among hours,
we used the Rayleigh test (Zar 2010). Here, the null hypothesis assumes a uniform circular distribution across 24 hours,
indicating the absence of preferred activity hours for the
“corzuela parda”. We used the “CirStats” package (Agostinelli
and Agostinelli 2018) to perform the Rayleigh test.
To evaluate habitat use, NDVI index (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) was estimated for each of the
38 cells of the grid. This index identifies the presence of
green vegetation on the surface and characterizes its spatial distribution. NDVI values were obtained from a LANDSAT-8 image, OLI Sensor, from December 2022 with a pixel
size of 30 m by 30 m. Because each index is estimated
over a surface of 10 m2, an average of all the cells included
in the grid was estimated as the NDVI of each sampling
site. Differences in the NDVI between plant communi-
Figure 2. Location of camera traps stations in the study site.
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ties were assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. When
significant differences were observed, post-hoc comparisons were conducted using a Dunn test (Zar 2010). Subsequently, generalized linear models with a binomial distribution were used to evaluate the effect of vegetation (as
measured by NDVI) on the presence of “corzuela parda”.
All records, including those obtained from this study and
external sources, were used in the model. R2 coefficient
was calculated to assess the goodness of fit. Graphic
methods were used to test assumptions of normality and
homogeneity of residuals. All analyses were performed
using R v.3.2.5 environment and language (R Core Team
2023). Kruskal-Wallis test was performed with “agricolae”
package (Mendiburu 2020). GLM was fitted with “stats”
(R Core Team 2023), “DHARMa” (Hartig 2020) and “visreg”
(Breheny and Burchett 2017) packages.
Results
New records. In this paper, we report 4 new site records
from camera traps, 1 new record from personal observation
of a CONICET colleague and include 3 iNaturalist reports
added last spring (Table 1). These new records, located on
the Central-East part of La Paz department, not only confirm the presence of the species on Mendoza province as
previously mentioned by naturalists, but also rearrange the
map proposed by Juliá et al. 2019 (Figure 2).
Rodríguez et al.
Table 1. List of records of Mazama gouazoubira in Mendoza Province.
Latitude
Longitude
Source
Date
33° 37’ 58” S
67° 8’ 57” W
This study-B05
Summer 2023
33° 36’ 55” S
67° 8’ 54” W
This study-B03
Summer 2023
33° 35’ 26” S
67° 12’ 1” W
This study-B01
Summer 2023
33° 37’ 4” S
67° 10’ 4” W
This study-B02
Summer 2023
33° 24’ 38” S
67° 22’ 39” W
Leandro Alvarez observation
Autumn 2023
33° 38’ 24 “ S
67° 7’ 4” W
iNaturalist-Quentin Vandem
Spring 2022
33° 37’ 36 “ S
67° 2’ 48” W
iNaturalist-Damian Gamine
Spring 2022
33° 39’ 4” S
67° 7’ 51” W
iNaturalist-Damian Gamine
Spring 2022
Population. From a total sampling effort of 50,160 hours
operation camera, we obtained 25 independent records of
M. gouazoubira: three records in B01, two in B02, 11 in B03,
and nine in B05. Eleven individuals of M. gouazoubira were
identified, with five of them being adult males and six adult
females. The males were primarily distinguished from the
females by the presence of antlers, and among themselves,
by their size, dimension and texture (Figure 3b, c). One male
stood out for having a cut on the left ear and was photographed in the company of a female (Figure 3c, e). For the
distinction among the females, their body size was taken
into account (Figure 3a, d), with one female being identified
as highly probably pregnant (Figure 3a). One individual from
camera B01 could not be identified as it was camouflaged
among the bushes. All individuals recorded in the camera
trap photos exhibited a good overall physical condition.
Figure 3. Photos of “corzuela parda” in Mendoza province, Argentina, captured by
the camera trap during the sampling period: a- Pregnant female, b-Adult male, c-Adult
male with a cut on the left ear, d-Adult female, e-Male with a cut ear with an adult female.
Activity patterns. The 25 independent camera trap events
are represented on a wind rose based on their time record.
The brocket deer has higher activity between 8 and 9 am in
the morning and then between 16 and 19 pm hours (Figure
4), avoiding the peak radiation hours (12 to 16 hours) during the summer season of 2023. Rayleigh test confirmed
that these time preferences were statistically significant (r =
0.99, p = 3.6062e-10).
Habitat use. The plant communities exhibited significantly different NDVI values among them, being the NDVI
of the forest twice as high as that of the salt flat (Chisq =
32.98; p < 0.00001) (Figure 5). The higher the NDVI of the
vegetation, the higher the probability of presence of the
“corzuela parda” (z = 2.27; p < 0.05) (Figure 6). The NDVI
explained about 36 % of the variance in the probability of
presence.
Discussion
In this paper we report a new locality of “corzuela parda” in
Argentina, particularly in Mendoza province, extending the
distribution of the species to the South-West of its previous
range. We also report the habitat use and activity patterns
of “corzuela parda” in the new locality, suggesting a preference for habitats with higher complexity and NDVI, and
being mostly active during the dawn and dusk time. Our
results not only support the previous hypothesis of Juliá et
al. (2019), who suggests the possible presence of “corzuela
parda” in Mendoza, but also confirm that there is a stable
and reproductive population in this new province.
By revising the distribution maps of the “corzuela
parda”, we found three different distributions according
to different authors (Black-Décima 2010; Juliá et al. 2019;
Silva-Caballero and Ortega 2022). However, none of them
include our study site as part of the species’ distribution
Figure 4. Wind rose recording daily activity pattern of the “corzuela parda” in Mendoza Province, Argentina. Numbers indicate daily hours. Longer arms indicate a higher
number of independent records of corzuela captured on camera traps.
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NEW RECORDS OF Mazama gouazoubira
Figure 5. Box-plot of NDVI for different plant communities: salt flat, shrubland and
forest. Different letters indicate significant differences among plant communities.
area. Considering the one proposed by Silva-Caballero and
Ortega (2022), our records increase the South-West limit of
“corzuela parda” of about 25 km, and confirm its presence in
the province. While this work was being writing, the Mendoza government reported a new record of “corzuela parda”
in the Central-West portion of Mendoza province (https://
www.mendoza.gov.ar/prensa/fue-registrada-una-nuevaespecie-de-la-fauna-silvestre-protegida-en-la-provincia/).
Particularly, the sighting was at the Southern limit of the
Ñacuñan protected area, about 90 km apart from our study
site in the South-West direction. The precise record had
not been provided in newspaper notices, so we could not
include it here. Also, it is important to mention that recent
studies carried out in the area, that included sampling with
camera traps and surveys of residents, did not find records
of this cervid (Moreno 2023). Future research that focuses
on this species in Mendoza province will allow us to confirm
or deny new records of populations presence, and probably
the distribution area will change within a short time.
According to the ecology of the species, previous studies report that adult males mostly do not overlap their
home range (Silva-Caballero and Ortega 2022). Nevertheless, some pairs of animals had been reported, mother
and fawn or male and female or adult male and young
male (Black-Décima 2000; Chebez and Johnson 1984; Juliá
2002). In our study, we found not only solitary individuals
in all camera sites but also the presence of three different
males (male #1,# 2 and #3) and two females (female #1 and
#2) in a single sampling site (W03). Although there are no
records of two or three males sharing the habitat at the
same time, we found that presence records have a range
of five and 17 days between different males. Moreover, the
record of the three males and the two females was sequen-
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tial, which means that during the first 20 days, only male
#1 and female #1 used the area. After that period, and during the next month, male #2 and female #2 were recorded
sharing the site. Finally, male #3 was recorded at the end of
the sampling period only once. Therefore, this population
could share its home range in space, but not in time. This
pattern had not been previously reported in literature and
became a new behavior for this species.
Records of activity patterns were consistent with literature, which mentions changes in the feeding behaviour of
“corzuela parda” according to seasonality. During the spring
and summer seasons, the “corzuela parda” is mainly found
during the twilight periods, with individuals primarily active
during dawn and dusk (Leeuwenberg et al. 1999; Rivero et al.
2005; Pautasso et al. 2008; Barrientos and Maffei 2000; Noss
et al. 2003; Ferreguetti et al. 2015; Oliveira et al. 2016; GrottaNeto et al. 2019). Although particular hours vary according
to the biogeographic region of the sampling sites and seasonality (Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina), all studies reported two
main activity peaks, one in the early hours of the morning,
and the other in the latest hours of the day. This behavior
avoids the exposition to the highest temperatures during
the snap time, which can reach up to 45 °C in the summer
time in our study site (Morello et al. 2018). During autumn
and winter, “corzuela parda” would use all daily hours for
foraging, besides dawn and dusk, something reported
previously in other small ruminants (Putman 1988). This
behavioral strategy, which prioritizes quality over quantity,
would be responsible for the rhythm of activity previously
described, in which “corzuela parda” invests a lot of time in
food selection (Richard and Juliá 2004).
Habitat use of “corzuela parda” is one of the best known
characteristics of this species across their entire range of
Figure 6. Probability of presence of “corzuela parda” in relation to the NDVI in Mendoza Province, Argentina. The solid blue line indicates the estimated parameter and the
gray area represents the confidence intervals.
Rodríguez et al.
distribution. Non-anthropic terrestrial environments are
optimal for the species, such as jungles, forests, shrublands, and grasslands, while anthropic environments such
as agricultural crops, forest plantations, and cattle pastures
are considered suboptimal (Juliá et al. 2019). In humid
habitats, like the Brazilian savannah (Cerrado ecorregion),
the “corzuela parda” mostly used forest habitats or bushy
grasslands (Leeuwenberg et al. 1999; Grotta-Neto et al.
2019) and disturbed or agricultural habitats like Eucalyptus plantations (Rodrigues et al. 2014, 2017). In Argentina,
the secondary forests of Parque Nacional El Rey are more
frequently used than the mature forests of tropical forest
habitat (Yungas), the difference being greater in the dry
season compared to the wet season (Lepera et al. 2005).
In North-East portion of Argentina, (Santa Fe and Misiones
provinces), “corzuela parda” was recorded on gallery and
Espinal forests, savannah and shrublands (Pautasso et al.
2008; Cirignoli et al. 2011). In Misiones jungle, a population growth was observed, favored by the fragmentation
of the landscape and the increase in pine plantations (Juliá
et al. 2019). In more arid habitats, such as the Chaco ecorregion in Argentina, “corzuela parda” is mostly present in
habitats with a greater tree and bare soil cover and a less
shrub cover (Periago et al. 2012). Our results show a higher
presence probability on higher NDVI areas, supporting the
hypothesis of the need of arboreal cover as a main habitat
requirement of this species (Caraballo 2009; Desbiez et al.
2009). Because of our study site is next to the Chaco Seco
ecorregion, the intrusion of elements of the Chaco into our
study area could creates a propitious environment for the
presence of the “corzuela parda”. Particularly, riparian forests like the one present in our study site, could act as a
corridor not only for “corzuela parda” individuals, but also
their associated vegetation.
Finally, it is important to highlight that this portion of
Mendoza Province has an ecological condition that allows
the development of a M. gouazoubira population. Moreover, the political limit between Mendoza and San Luis
provinces is also a biogeographic limit between Monte and
Chaco Seco, so the Desaguadero river, and particularly the
intersection between it and the Tunuyan River, could be
acting as a biological corridor for the expansion of this species. The creation of the new protected area around Desaguadero and Tunuyan rivers, joint with the new record of
“corzuela parda” in the nearby of Ñacuñan protected area,
emphasize not only the importance of keep protecting
these protected areas, but also the protection of surrounding habitats which was the potential of being used by “corzuela parda” to travel between patches.
Acknowledgments
This work was granted by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación of Argentina (project “Aportes científico – técnicos al proceso de creación y gestión de la Reserva
Natural Municipal Lagunas del Desaguadero, La Paz, Mendoza –DESAFÍO 40”). We thank the staff of “Municipio de
La Paz” and Sr. Tagua for assisting with the logistics for the
fieldwork. We thank all the members of the project for contributing information and comments that improved the
work. G. Córdoba assisted us in image editing.
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Submitted: August 7, 2023; Reviewed: September 8, 2023
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Appendix 1
Main plant communities in the study site: a) Salt flat, b) Shrubland, and c) Forest.
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Supplementary material
Residuals of the Presence probability model
https://www.revistas-conacyt.unam.mx/therya/index.php/THERYA/article/view/5158/5158_Supplementary%20materia
www.mastozoologiamexicana.org
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Parte de Following the trail of the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) in Argentina