Conservação do Guigó-de-Coimbra-Filho (Callicebus coimbrai) e perda de cobertura florestal em fragmentos de mata atlântica na região metropolitana de Salvador, Bahia

Abstract

Brazil has the largest number of non-human primate species on the planet. However, when compared to the total number of these species with the number of primates classified into some threat category, almost a third of these mammals found in the country run the risk of disappearing. The Coimbra-Filho’s titi monkey (Callicebus coimbrai) was described by Kobayashi and Langguth in 1999 and is in the “Endangered” category of extinction on the IUCN and Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation lists. Some groups of titis can be found in the Salvador Metropolitan Region (RMS), Bahia, within the boundaries of the Joanes-Ipitanga Environmental Protection Area (APA), between the municipalities of Simões Filho and Candeias, occupying forest fragments of the Atlantic Rain Forest. The urbanization pressures exerted on these forest fragments and the increasing loss of forest cover contribute to the risk of extinction of this species. The aim of this issue was to study the location of C. coimbrai around the Joanes II Dam, and how the forest cover of the fragments occupied by the titis has been impacted by human occupation since the creation of this Conservation Unit and 2017 through satellite imagery data provided by MAPBiomas and on-site observations. Data were collected through field expeditions from 2013 to 2018, in eight fragments of Atlantic Rain Forest where they inhabit groups of titis, using the playback technique to attract these individuals. One of the groups detected in the study occupies a fragment with an area of less than 12 hectares. The fact that these primates, accompanied for almost six years in this fragment, have remained inhabiting it, even with the small size of the living area and the threats of hunting, demonstrates the persistence of the species to anthropogenic impacts. The surveyed area has consolidated urban agglomerations and a portion of this human population depends on this place for housing and subsistence farming. Reducing the impact of these human populations on local biodiversity will require a dialogue between these communities, academia and environmental managers, so that a solution that preserves the environment and harmoniously coexists can be found.