Resumen

Buffer zones adjacent to protected areas can have a high conservation value for wildlife species but are usually neglected by authorities in charge of conservation areas. We used 13 camera traps in an equal number of sample stations during 1,730 trap days in the southern portion of Manu National Park buffer zone in southeastern Peru, to measure variations in the probability of presence of six terrestrial mammal species and a diversity index (Shannon-WienerIndex) with distance to the limit of the park and elevation. Relative Abundance Index (number of pictures per species/100 camera trap days) varied between 0.06 (South American coati-Nasua nasua) and 1.5 (mountain paca-Cunniculus taczanowskii). Results indicate that species responded differently to distance to the park and elevation. However for the Peruvian brocket deer (Mazama chunyi), a little known species, and for the oncilla (Leopardus tigrinus), probability of presence diminished with increased distance from the park, and for the deer, it increased with elevation. On average, diversity and abundance of terrestrial mammal species diminished with distance from the park and elevation. Our results highlight the importance of buffer zones adjacent to protected area for the conservation of threatened and restricted range species. They also call for the atention to conservation initiatives outside protected areas to increase their conservation value and maintain conectivity between conservation units.