Habitat use
Four habitat types (cacao agroforests, living fence rows, pastures with isolated trees, and
riparian forests) account for approximately 90% of the ‘potential available habitat’ for two- and three-toed sloths in our study (Table 4). Riparian forest segments and living fence
rows were used by two-toed and three-toed sloths at frequencies greater than expected,
probably because they contained relatively high diversities and densities of preferred food
species such as Cecropia, Ficus, Inga and Ocotea (Table 5). Two-toed sloths also used
secondary forest more often than expected, but relatively few captures or subsequent
relocations of collared sloths were made in this habitat type.
Cacao agroforest was used by three-toed sloths more or less in proportion to its
occurrence on the landscape, while two-toed sloths used cacao agroforest somewhat less
than expected given its availability (Table 4). At least some of this differential habitat use
appears to relate to the relative abundance in different habitats of preferred species for
feeding, but other factors such as predator avoidance are probably important as well.
Despite their substantial use of cacao agroforests, three-toed sloths were never observed
feeding on cacao leaves or pods. Their use of cacao agroforest appeared to center on the
presence of a few preferred food trees such as Cecropia, Coussapoa and Ocotea, but threetoed
sloths spent most time in riparian forest and fence row habitats adjacent to the cacao
agroforest within their potential available habitat