CONSERVATION OF A HIGH DIVERSITY PRIMATE

Assemblage

PABLO PUERTAS
Proyecto Peruano de Primatologia 'Manuel Moro Sommo', P.O. Box 621, Iquitos, Perú

RICHARD E. BODMER
(To whom correspondence should be addressed.)
Program for Studies in Tropical Conservation, Center Latin American Studies, University of Florida, 319
Grinter Hall, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA

Received 15 December 1992; revised and accepted 23 February 1993

The species richness and Conservation status of Primates in the Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo, northeastern Peru. located between the Yavari and Amazon rivers is reported. Two sites within a continuous forest were studied in the 322 500 ha reserve. Primate densities were estimated from censuses of 290 kin of line transects using Fourier series expansion. Fourteen species of anthropoid Primates have been confirmed to occur sympatrically in the Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo which is the greatest species richness of Primates reported to date within a Peruvian Conservation unit. Hunting by local inhabitants has decreased the densities and biomasses of Cebids in the reserve, but not Callitrichids. A management plan for hunting in the Reserva Comunal Tamshiyacu-Tahuayo has been developed to better Conserve Primates and other mammalian species.

Keywords: Primate diversity; Cebids; Callitrichids; game hunting
 

Introduction

Anthropoid Primates are commonly used as 'flagship species' for wildlife Conservation, because of their charismatic attributes and evolutionary proximity to humans (Mittermeier, 1988). Certain blocks of tropical forests have exceptionally high diversities of Primate species (Hart et al., 1986; Janson and Emmons, 1990) and these assemblages can be considered as 'megadiversity forests'. In these cases Conservation is not concerned with individual 'flagship species', but rather with whole assemblages. Local extinctions from overhunting or forest destruction will probably not eliminate a Primate species in its entire geographical range, but it can destroy the integrity of a high diversity assemblage.

To date, the Conservation unit with the greatest species richness of Neotropical Primates is the Manu National Park in southeastern Peru with 13 confirmed species and one unconfirmed species (Terborgh, 1983; Janson and Emmons, 1990). There are likely to be protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon which exceed the Primate diversity of Manu, possibly reaching as many as 19 sympatric species (Rylands and Bernardes, 1989). However, these Primate diversities in Brazil have not yet been confirmed by field observations.

In this article, the Primate fauna in a protected area of northeastern Peru located in the terra firma forests which divide the valley of the Yavari from the valley of the Amazon is described. This Conservation unit exceeds previous records in the species richness of sympatric Primates for Peru. The taxonomy of species, their densities and biomasses, and current threats to the Primate community are presented.