GUYACAM : Effect of anthropogenic activities on wildlife diversity in French Guiana

Ecological interactions are being affected at unprecedented rates by human activities in tropical forests. Yet, the continuity of environmental functions provided by animals, such as seed dispersal, is crucial for forest regeneration and species resilience to anthropogenic pressures. The construction of new roads in tropical forests is one of the main boosters of habitat destruction. It facilitates human access to previously isolated areas and increases defaunation and loss of ecological functions. Therefore, it becomes increasingly urgent to assess how recently opened roads and associated anthropogenic activities rapidly affect ecological processes in natural habitats so that appropriate management measures can be taken to conserve diversity. In this project, we aimed to evaluate the effects of anthropogenic pressures on the health status of a mature rainforest crossed by a newly opened road in French Guiana. We assessed the activity of frugivores using camera traps deployed in forest patches located near (<1 km) ecological corridors preserved as canopy bridges over the road during the fruiting periods of four animal-dispersed tree species. The overall protocol allows us to compare the presence and frequency of terrestrial and arboreal vertebrates living in three tropical forest ecosystems of French Guiana with different levels of human pressures. The study is also conducted at two mature forests away from the main road, one with (Montagne Tortue-Bélizon forest) and the other without (Pararé, Nouragues National Natural Reserve) anthropogenic pressures. Camera traps are set in the understory and the canopy of targeted fruiting trees.