کد مقاله | کد نشریه | سال انتشار | مقاله انگلیسی | نسخه تمام متن |
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5533749 | 1550461 | 2017 | 8 صفحه PDF | دانلود رایگان |
Fragmentation and human-wildlife conflicts represent severe threats to wildcats such as the kodkod cat (Leopardus guigna), endemic to the heavily impacted Chilean temperate rainforest. Here we assess to which extent this vulnerable forest specialist is able to use altered habitat (agricultural matrix, forest edge, human presence) by studying its home ranges, habitat use, and patch selection in privately owned rainforest remnants. We radio-tracked five individuals over 33-376Â days. Mean 95% kernel home ranges were 623Â ha, with a mean 50% core area of 191Â ha. Ecological-niche and Mahalanobis distance factor analysis confirmed forest-dependency and revealed that the individuals made intensive use of forest edges, close to water. They did not avoid houses. Generalized linear mixed models showed that the monitored kodkods selected elongated woodland patches. We conclude that the kodkods compensated the non-forest space by maintaining larger home ranges and making efficient use of forest edges probably due to higher prey availability. Future studies should identify ecological traps, and describe connectivity and source-sink dynamics in the agricultural matrix to develop long-term conservation efforts for the smallest cat of the Americas.
Journal: Mammalian Biology - Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde - Volume 86, September 2017, Pages 1-8