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Submitted July 22, 2026
Published 2026-07-30

Artículos

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2026): Tecnociencia

Ecological diversity of mammals of Coiba Island, Coiba National Park, Panama


DOI https://doi.org/10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10847

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References
DOI: 10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10847

Published: 2026-07-30

How to Cite

Méndez Carvajal, P. G. and Gutiérrez Pineda, K. (2026) “Ecological diversity of mammals of Coiba Island, Coiba National Park, Panama”, Tecnociencia, 8(2), pp. 91–108. doi: 10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10847.

Abstract

Studies of ecological diversity of mammals on islands show that the size of the island´s area affects the indices of richness, dominance and equity of the species, therefore, the larger the area, the greater the richness and equity, as well as the lower the dominance. The Island Biogeography Model explains that this is due to the balance between the opposing forces of extinction and immigration, as a larger area offers different types of niches for species with different ecological specialties. Our objective was to estimate the ecological diversity of mammals on Coiba Island, Coiba National Park, Panama. This work was carried out since 2010 on an Ad-hoc basis, and systematically for the period from 2018 to 2022.To detect mammals we use line transects, mist nets, camera traps in the understory and the Orion Camera System (SCO) to detect arboreal mammals. We also identify some species by tracks, corpses or bones found within the island. We managed to detect 23 species of mammals, 20 were identified by direct observation, belonging to 7 orders, 15 families, and 22 genera. According to the ecological biodiversity indices, there is a moderate species richness; however, the species richness estimators and the rarefaction graph indicate that there is a possibility that there are more species that have not been detected. This is possible, since the study focused on detecting mammal species found from the coast to a maximum of 2 km inside the mangrove and mature forest of the island. We found low species dominance and medium equity, favouring intra-island heterogeneity, and the coexistence of greater species richness with different types of niche, ecological specialty, and favouring an increase in speciation rates over time. This work is important to know the current status of the population of different species found on the island and to value its ecological role.

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