Influence of landscape attributes on forest patch occupancy and demography of Alouatta caraya in a fragmented landscape of northeastern Argentina

The northeast of the Argentinean Chaco Park constitutes the main habitat of the black and golden howler monkey, Alouatta caraya, and has the highest deforestation rate of the country, in the period 2007-2018 there was an annual loss of 7% in this region that corresponds to approximately 2,600,000 ha. We evaluate landscape attributes that can influence the use of forest patches and the demographic characteristics of A. caraya in a rural area of the Argentinean Chaco. We conducted monthly censuses from June 2017 to November 2018, and used geomatics tools and geographic data to perform spatial analyzes. The forest patches area was the only attribute positively related to their occupation by the howlers (p = 0.007). The mean group size (5.6 +/- 2.13 individuals) did not vary between large and small patches but the immature: adult female ratio of the groups was higher in the large patches (p = 0.024). This study provides evidence of the value of geomatic tools to assess landscape attributes that influence habitat occupancy in the primates from Argentina, contributing to the understanding of the important requirements to design conservation strategies.