ABSTRACT
The savannas that encompass the Bolivian maned wolf habitat are divided among three biogeographical regions contiguous with Brazil: (1) the Beni-Pampas del Heath seasonal wetlands, of Beni and La Paz Departments (with a tiny extension into Peru), bordering Rondônia; (2) the cerrado of northeastern Santa Cruz Department, bordering Rondônia and Mato Grosso; and (3) the Bolivian Pantanal on the southeastern border of Santa Cruz Department, contiguous with Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraguay (Queirolo et al. 2011; Muir and Emmons 2012). Most of these savannas are in geologic basins with poor drainage that experience seasonal flooding from late January to May. Along with fire, the flooding maintains the grasslands as a disclimax under climatic conditions that today would favor the existence of forests (Hirota et al. 2011; Mayle et al. 2007; Staver et al. 2011). Maned wolf habitat in natural savannas of Bolivia thus depends for its persistence on a fragile balance of tree suppression by the opposing forces of fire and water, which in turn are dependent on climate cycles and human activities. As well as influencing global phase changes between forest and savanna, short-term variations in fire and flooding can influence the food resource base of maned wolves and, consequently, the local carrying capacity of the habitat and resultant maned wolf population density.
