Landscape factors and allochthonous congeneric species influence Callithrix aurita occurrence in Brazilian Atlantic Forest remnants

The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix aurita) is a small primate endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome, and one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world, due to fragmentation, loss of habitat, and invasion by allochthonous Callithrix species. Using occurrence data for C. aurita from published data papers, we employed model selection using Akaike Information Criterion corrected for small samples and cumulative AICc weight (w(+)) to evaluate whether fragment size, distance to fragments with allochthonous species, altitude, connectivity, and surrounding matrices influence the occurrence of C. aurita within its distributional range. Distance to fragments with C. jacchus (w(+) = 0.94) and nonvegetated areas (w(+) = 0.59) correlated negatively with C. aurita occurrence. Conversely, the percentage of agriculture and pasture mosaic (w(+) = 0.61) and the percentage of savanna formation (w(+) = 0.59) in the surrounding matrix correlated positively with C. aurita occurrence. The findings indicate that C. aurita is isolated in forest fragments surrounded by potentially inhospitable matrices, along with proximity of a more generalist and invasive species, thereby increasing the possibility of introgressive hybridization. The findings also highlighted the importance of landscape elements and allochthonous congeneric species for C. aurita conservation, besides indicating urgency for allochthonous species management. Finally, the approach used here can be applied to improve conservation studies of other endangered species, such as C. flaviceps, which is also endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and faces the same challenges.

Automated summary

The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset is an endangered primate species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, facing threats from habitat loss, fragmentation, and invasive species. A study using occurrence data found that the presence of nonnative Callithrix species and nonvegetated areas negatively affect the occurrence of the marmoset, while the presence of agriculture and pasture mosaic and savanna formation in the surrounding landscape positively affect its occurrence. The study highlights the importance of landscape elements and managing allochthonous species for the conservation of the marmoset.