Pantanal Peccaries
Without healthy prey populations, jaguars will switch to a diet of domestic livestock, leading to persecution by ranchers and irreversible changes to the local food web. Alexine Keuroghlian (University of Nevada, Reno) is investigating the ecology of the principal prey of jaguars, white-lipped and collared peccaries, in an effort to monitor the health of the Pantanal ecosystem. Volunteer duties will include:

•  Following fresh peccary paths to collect data on fruit foraging

•  Radio Tracking

•  Peccary behavioral observations

•  Mammal census (both peccaries and any other animal or animal tracks encountered on the trails)

•  Fruit experiments

•  Faecal analysis

•  Opening and clearing of trails

•  Fruit census

•  Data collection and analysis

Surveying the Pantanal's Wetlands
Although the Pantanal is a wetland refuge half the size of France bursting with tropical wildlife, much of the action takes place underwater. An astounding diversity of fishes of all sizes, shapes, and colors can be found here, from the piraputanga, a small fish that specializes in eating tropical fruits and dispersing their seeds, to the giant arapaima, a prehistoric-looking predator. For many of the smaller fish and aquatic invertebrates, even their basic biology is poorly known, so expect to make discoveries. Volunteers will work with Don Eaton (University of Nevada, Reno) to sample fishes, invertebrates, and plants along a range of aquatic habitats to determine how different variables affect aquatic diversity here. Volunteer duties will include:

•  Collecting core samples from aquatic substrates

•  Taking water samples

•  Fish census with hand nets and small scale block net enclosures, seining in medium-sized channels and gill netting and trapping in larger and deeper habitats

•  Setting up and running detritus decomposition experiments

•  Light trapping adult aquatic insects at night

Small Mammal Health
Small mammals are an important group of organisms concerning conservation. They have short life cycles and respond rapidly to environmental alterations. They also serve as important prey of the majority of the carnivores. In addition, they present medical and veterinary importance for maintaining the sylvatic cycle of some important diseases, as leishmaniasis and hantaviruses. By these characteristics they are considered good biological indicators. With Paolo D'Andrea and Vitor Rademaker , we will help monitor small mammal populations – the results of which will help to develop management and conservation strategies. Volunteer duties will include:

•  Learning to identify the species morphologically and know the species habitat

•  Setting up traps, checking and baiting them at different stations and different habitats

•  Taking general characteristics from captured animals such as weight, body measurements, sex, and reproduction condition

•  Follow-up and mapping their lines in the field and helping characterize the nests of captured animals

•  Handling and analyzing lab samples

•  Helping to prepare euthanized animals for scientific collection