Mountain tapir

Abstract: Results of a 4-year study in Sangay National Park, Ecuador, indicated that the mountain tapir Tapirus pinchaque, consumes a wide variety of woody and non-woody plant taxa primarily as a foliose browser, and has a preference for some nitrogen-fixing plants. The more closed-cover Andean forest and chaparral habitats contain a greater abundance of mountain tapir-favoured food than the more open grassland paramo, riverine meadow, and pampas vegetation types. Andean forests are considered the most critical habitat for the survival of this tapir because of their provision of cover and food. Field observations and results of faecal germination experiments show that the mountain tapir assists in the successful seed dispersal of many species of Andean plants. Significant regressions between: (1) seed germination and (2) both the natural logarithm (ln e) of the preference ratio and the dietary abundance of food species indicate a mutualism between the mid to high montane-dwelling mountain tapir and the plants it consumes. A significant relation during the past 2 to 3 million years is proposed between: (1) the crossing of the Panamanian Isthmus and the occupation of the mid to high northern Andes by ancestors of the mountain tapir, and (2) the rise of the Andes and formation of the montane forest and paramo ecosystems above c. 2000 m elevation.

Abstract: The mountain tapir has already disappeared from parts of its range in the high Andes of South America and remaining populations are severely threatened by hunting and habitat destruction. With an estimated population of fewer than 2500 individuals, urgent measures are necessary to secure a future for the species. This paper presents an overview of the species throughout its range as well as some of the main results of the author's studies on tapir ecology. Finally, a plea is made for conservation action in Sangay National Park, which is one of the species's main strongholds.

Abstract: Understanding the forces that shaped Neotropical diversity is central issue to explain tropical biodiversity and inform conservation action; yet few studies have examined large, widespread species. Lowland tapir (Tapirus terrrestris, Perissodactyla, Tapiridae) is the largest Neotropical herbivore whose ancestors arrived in South America during the Great American Biotic Interchange. A Pleistocene diversification is inferred for the genus Tapirus from the fossil record, but only two species survived the Pleistocene megafauna extinction. Here, we investigate the history of lowland tapir as revealed by variation at the mitochondrial gene Cytochrome b, compare it to the fossil data, and explore mechanisms that could have shaped the observed structure of current populations. Separate methodological approaches found mutually exclusive divergence times for lowland tapir, either in the late or in the early Pleistocene, although a late Pleistocene divergence is more in tune with the fossil record. Bayesian analysis favored mountain tapir (T. pinchaque) paraphyly in relation to lowland tapir over reciprocal monophyly, corroborating the inferences from the fossil data these species are sister taxa. A coalescent-based analysis rejected a null hypothesis of allopatric divergence, suggesting a complex history. Based on the geographic distribution of haplotypes we propose (i) a central role for western Amazonia in tapir diversification, with a key role of the ecological gradient along the transition between Andean subcloud forests and Amazon lowland forest, and (ii) that the Amazon river acted as an barrier to gene flow. Finally, the branching patterns and estimates based on nucleotide diversity indicate a population expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum. This study is the first examining lowland tapir phylogeography. Climatic events at the end of the Pleistocene, parapatric speciation, divergence along the Andean foothill, and role of the Amazon river, have similarly shaped the history of other taxa. Nevertheless further work with additional samples and loci is needed to improve our initial assessment. From a conservation perspective, we did not find a correspondence between genetic structure in lowland tapir and ecogeographic regions proposed to define conservation priorities in the Neotropics. This discrepancy sheds doubt into this scheme's ability to generate effective conservation planning for vagile species.