Interviews as a research rool for new populations of Crax blumenbachii (Aves: Cracidae)

Abstract

Natural populations of Crax blumenbachii are restricted to lowland areas of the Atlantic Forest from southern Bahia to Espírito Santo and eastern Minas Gerais, with an estimated ٢٥٠ or fewer adults naturally occurring in about 0.85% of the original area. C. blumenbachii was the first species suggested for a national action plan for conservation, which includes a search for new populations among the planned actions. The present work demonstrates that interviews with traditional communities are an efficient tool for defining priority areas for the conservation and monitoring of the species. Sixty-nine semi-structured interviews were carried out around Serra do Conduru State Park, Bahia, Brazil, over 10 sampling campaigns between 2012 and 2021.The presence of the species was reported in 42% of the interviews and interpolation of these data allows modeling of a predictive map of the species distribution, which is associated with large areas of dense rainforests and waterways, and is absent in regions with agricultural and tourism infrastructure. The occurrence of the species was confirmed in two places with occurrence predictions of 80% and 100%, validating the use of the tool and establishing the Park surroundings as a priority for efforts aimed at investigating the distribution patterns of the species.