The puma in the gated community: the role of urban ecological corridors

Open spaces may provide habitat for wildlife in urban areas, but larger species are rarely sighted. A puma (Puma concolor) was captured on video in Piracicaba, SP, which created an interest in investigating which landscape patterns (shapes, dimensions, spatial relationships between urban matrix, cor...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor principal: Penteado, Homero Marconi (author)
Formato: article
Idioma:por
Publicado em: 2019
Assuntos:
Texto completo:https://doi.org/10.47235/rmu.v7i2.109
País:Portugal
Oai:oai:ojs2.revistademorfologiaurbana.org:article/109
Descrição
Resumo:Open spaces may provide habitat for wildlife in urban areas, but larger species are rarely sighted. A puma (Puma concolor) was captured on video in Piracicaba, SP, which created an interest in investigating which landscape patterns (shapes, dimensions, spatial relationships between urban matrix, corridors and habitat fragments, vegetation, etc.) enabled movements from rural areas to a city of approximately 400 thousand inhabitants. Aerial images, photographs and interpretive maps were used. The puma was spotted at two areas near to each other, from which routes were traced to identify possible corridors and refuges. Possible ecological corridors include spaces under power lines surrounded by condominium walls, riparian forests along streams and the Piracicaba River, or even tree-lined avenues that permeate the city, connect the urban matrix with rural areas and provide access to sources of food (capybaras, domestic animals). The presence of the feline in the urban area can therefore result from conditions that drove it out of its habitats, attractive elements in the city and landscape patterns that enabled its movements.