Perda e fragmentação de habitats em paisagens com uso agrícola no sudeste goiano e seus efeitos em mamíferos de médio e grande porte

Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are among the main threats to biodiversity in the Brazilian Cerrado, particularly for medium- and large-sized mammals. This study evaluated the effects of changes in landscape configuration on mammal species richness and composition in five areas of southeastern Goiás, Brazil, considering two distinct periods (2014 and 2025). Active surveys and camera trapping were used to record species, while landscape metrics (fragment area, habitat amount, number of fragments, and mean Euclidean distance between fragments) were derived from satellite images previously processed in a Geographic Information System (GIS), converted into raster format in QGIS, and subsequently calculated in RStudio. The results revealed the occurrence of 30 species distributed across eight orders, with a predominance of generalist species. Species richness varied among areas and periods, showing trends of increase, decline, or stability over time. These variations were mainly associated with habitat amount and fragment area, both of which showed a positive relationship with species richness, as well as with the potential effects of increased sampling effort between the two periods. The analyses highlighted that mammal conservation depends on the integrated functionality of the landscape rather than solely on the preservation of isolated habitat fragments. These findings reinforce the importance of management strategies that reconcile agricultural land use with biodiversity conservation in the Cerrado, such as maintaining native vegetation remnants, establishing ecological corridors, restoring degraded areas, protecting riparian forests, and adopting more sustainable production practices.