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Occurrence and relative abundance of carnivores in a tropical forest impacted by Hurricane Dean (2007)

Abstract:

Hurricanes are common disturbances in the Caribbean, but their effect on carnivores is unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and relative abundance of carnivores in relation with vegetation damage 18 months after Hurricane Dean (2007) hit the Yucatan Peninsula. Using camera-trapping, 4 sites showing different intensities of hurricane damage were sampled. The response of carnivores was explored at 4 spatial scales. Vegetation damage was estimated as the difference in the Enhanced Vegetation Index (dEVI) before and after the hurricane using MODIS satellite images. At most resolutions, carnivores' occurrence and relative abundance were weakly or not related with vegetation damage, probably due to their little habitat specificity. Nevertheless, the apparent resistance of the studied species should be confirmed using a larger sampling effort and temporal framework.