a certain flexibility of the sloth when engaging habitats of differing
quality, a flexibility which has been previously reported (cf. marsupials,
Finlayson et al., 2007; Smith et al., 2013; ungulates, Schaefer
and Messier, 1995).
The observed habitat selection of the maned sloths was generally
congruent across spatial scales, although some inconsistencies
were observed. The main discrepancy between the sloths was their
preference for more complex components of habitat at the finer
scale (trees and patches), yet this was not the case at the coarser
scale (vegetation types). However, sloths may prefer more complex
forest patches even within more simplified habitat types, such
as shaded cacao plantations. They also selected large-sized trees
within areas where such trees are notthe most abundanttype, such
as in early secondary forests.
In particular, there was a notable congruence in terms of habitat
preferences between the finer and coarser scales. Part of the
structural differences between the shaded cacao plantations and
late secondary forests from this region is that the former habitat
is characterized by lower densities of vegetation in the middle and
lower forest strata (Faria, 2002). Shaded cacao plantations and late
secondary forests had no influence on habitat selection within the
sloths’ home ranges and our fine-scale results indicated that the
sloths’ habitat selection was not influenced by vegetation densities
below 10 m high. In particular, open areas were the only habitats
avoided at both coarse scales, which is to be expected from
mammals that are strongly adapted to arboreal life.