Abstract
The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix aurita) is a small
primate endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome, and one of the
25 most endangered primates in the world, due to fragmentation, loss of
habitat, and invasion by allochthonous Callithrix species. Using
occurrence data for C. aurita from published data papers, we
employed model selection and cumulative AICc weight (w+) to evaluate
whether fragment size, distance to fragments with allochthonous species,
altitude, connectivity, and surrounding matrices influence the
occurrence of C. aurita within its distributional range. Distance
to fragments with C. jacchus (w+ = 0.94) and non-vegetated areas
(w+ = 0.59) correlated negatively with C. aurita occurrence.
Conversely, the percentage of agriculture and pasture mosaic (w+ = 0.61)
and the percentage of savanna formation (w+ = 0.59) in the surrounding
matrix correlated positively with C. aurita occurrence. The
findings indicate that C. aurita is isolated in forest fragments
surrounded by potentially inhospitable matrices, along with the
proximity of a more generalist and invasive species, thereby increasing
the possibility of introgressive hybridization. The findings also
highlighted the importance of landscape factors and allochthonous
congeneric species for C. aurita conservation, besides indicating
urgency for allochthonous species management. Finally, the approach used
here can be applied to improve conservation studies of other endangered
species, such as C. flaviceps, which is also endemic to the
Brazilian Atlantic Forest and faces the same challenges.