By Daniel Rocha, 21st August 2019
When people hear the word ‘Amazonia’ they probably imagine a dense tropical rainforest, uniformly covered by green vegetation. But Amazonia is actually made up of a mosaic of diverse and varied habitats, including moist evergreen forests, seasonal forests, transitional forests, different types of flooded forest, swamps and—perhaps somewhat unexpectedly—savannahs.
Amazonian savannah patch at Campos Amazônicos National Park, Brazil. Photo: Erica Coutinho
Located at the periphery of the Amazon ecosystem, Amazonian savannahs are archipelagos of open natural habitat surrounded by forests. Some of these islands have been isolated for thousands of years. Yet despite this remarkable biological context, Amazonian savannahs remain little known and are poorly understood by the general public and scientific community. They are thus under-protected and increasingly threatened as agriculture and human settlements expand over Amazonian borders.
Amazonian savannah–forest transition area. Photo: Laurie Hedges
In 2016, we pioneered a mammal survey in collaboration with protected area managers within the southern Brazilian Amazonia savannah regions. We quickly realized that savannahs harbour an astoundingly diverse and unique community of species, comprising both savannah and forest animals. To our surprise, we encountered species well outside their current known distribution. One of these was the pampas deer, which is listed as Vulnerable in the Brazilian Red List of Threatened Species. The newly discovered populations of savannah-dwelling pampas deer occur outside the species’ presumed historical range, at least 350 km from any known pampas deer population.
Pampas deer in the Amazonian savannah patch. Photo: Daniel Rocha
More recently, our friend and videographer Laurie Hedges joined us in an expedition to document the pampas deer in the southern Amazonian savannahs. Among the exceptional footage that Laurie captured was the region’s first record of an Endangered crowned solitary eagle, another species we did not expect to find in this area. Experts believe there are fewer than 1,000 adult crowned solitary eagles remaining in the wild. The species is among the largest and most severely threatened eagles of the Neotropics. We still need more data to confirm the presence of a breeding population, but knowing that the southern Amazonian savannah habitats are similar to other areas where solitary crowded eagles thrive, gives us hope.
Crowned solitary eagle in the Amazonian savannah patch. Photo: Laurie Hedges
We have only begun to scratch the surface of the surprising diversity of Amazonian savannahs. Many savannah patches have never been surveyed and their long history of isolation means there may be genetically distinct populations or even new species to be discovered in these habitats. Therefore, our next steps include carrying out expeditions to collect pampas deer genetic samples, as well as systematic bird surveys in partnership with local ornithologists, to confirm the presence of an established crowned solitary eagle population in the largest patch of the southern Amazonian savannah. We would not be surprized if during future fieldwork we found more unexpected species and populations thriving in these unique habitats!
Amazonian savannah vegetation during the dry season somewhere in Campos Amazônicos National Park. Photo: Ana Rafaela D’amico
Learn more about our research:
The article New populations of pampas deer Ozotoceros bezoarticus discovered in the threatened Amazonian savannah enclaves & Endangered crowned solitary eagle in the threatened Amazonian savannah are available in Oryx—The International Journal of Conservation.
