Beyond Protected Areas: Contrasting Habitat Associations and Anthropogenic Pressures on Three Carnivores in the Atlantic Forest of Misiones, Argentina

ABSTRACT: Human land-use change increasingly forces wildlife to persist within fragmented landscapes where habitat modification, human activity, and other anthropogenic pressures overlap. We examined how three carnivores, the southern tiger cat (Leopardus guttulus), bush dog (Speothos venaticus), and puma (Puma concolor), are associated with land-use and anthropogenic gradients in the fragmented Atlantic Forest of Misiones, Argentina. Using five survey seasons of noninvasive detection-dog scat sampling across 1613.7 km in northern-central Misiones, we analyzed genetically confirmed occurrences of southern tiger cat (n = 714), pumas (n = 99), and bush dog (n = 51) in relation to land use, human population density, settlement proximity, protected-area association, and proximity to illegal hunting activity. All three species were primarily associated with native forest, but the strength of this association differed among species, being highest for puma, intermediate for southern tiger cat, and lowest for bush dogs. Bush dogs were detected more frequently in monoculture plantations and agricultural-pasture mosaics and occupied landscapes with greater habitat heterogeneity. Approximately one-third of southern tiger cat and bush dog detections and half of puma detections occurred within protected areas, while all three species were also frequently detected near rural settlements and recorded hunting activity. These patterns indicate that protected areas alone do not encompass the landscapes used by these carnivores and highlight the importance of maintaining habitat and connectivity across the surrounding matrix. The observed overlap with human-modified landscapes also identifies potential pathways for exposure to domestic animals, hunting pressure, and environmental contaminants that warrant direct investigation.