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579

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Brazilian rainforests are one of the most important tropical regions on Earth with high biodiversity that provide vital ecosystem services. However, these regions are threatened by a rapidly expanding road network, leading to habitat loss and fragmentation, wildlife mortality, and secondary threats such as deforestation and poaching. Roads that bisect habitat fragments reduce the movement of individual animals, leading to reduced gene flow and, eventually, to regional population decline. Smart, cost-effective strategies are urgently needed to reduce the impacts of connectivity loss caused by roads around the world. In the Neotropics, most arboreal species are strictly arboreal, rarely if ever coming down to the ground, making them particularly sensitive to connectivity loss created by gaps in the canopy. We must develop the necessary knowledge about how arboreal mammal species use artificial canopy bridges (ACBs) to safeguard their welfare and conservation, particularly threatened and endangered species in high biodiverse regions. In this presentation, we are going to present five applied case studies of conservation projects on canopy bridges across Brazil: i) the "Reconecta" project in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, which tests two different types of designs of canopy bridges for different arboreal species, ii) the “Urban Monkeys Project” with canopy bridges for the vulnerable brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) in Southern Brazil, iii) a wooden canopy bridge project for the endangered black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) in São Paulo state and, iv) a citizen science project with homemade canopy bridges in the Cantareira State Park, also in São Paulo state, and v) canopy bridge project for the critically endangered pied tamarin (Saguinus bicolor) in the campus of the Federal University of Amazon. Finally, we discuss the lessons learned from these projects, especially concerning how animals with different locomotor strategies might benefit from specific canopy bridges designs.

Keywords:

Canopy-bridges
Neotropics
Arboreal species
Primates
Mitigation measure
Road
Road mortality
Functional connectivity

FERNANDA ABRA, Fernanda Teixeira, Marcelo Gordo, Aline Medeiros, Edson Costa, Patrícia Dias, Márcia M. A. Jardim

Presentation within symposium:

S-34 Reconnecting the forest canopy: Lessons from artificial canopy bridge studies in various geographies and habitats

Reconnecting Brazilian rainforests: lessons learned from canopy bridges applied projects

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