IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Galvez, N.; Hernandez, F.; Laker, J.; Gilabert, H.; Petitpas, R.; Bonacic, C.; Gimona, A.; Hester, A.; MacDonald, D.W. | |
| Forest cover outside protected areas plays an important role in the conservation of the Vulnerable gui¤a _Leopardus guigna_ | |
| 2013 Oryx (47): 251-258 | |
Habitat loss and fragmentation are affecting populations of forest dwelling mammalian carnivores worldwide. In southern Chile, a biodiversity hotspot, anthropogenic activities have resulted in high loss of native forest cover. The gui¤a, or kodkod cat, _Leopardus guigna_ is a small forest-dwelling felid with a narrow range in the temperate forest of southern Chile. The few existing studies of the species have suggested that it is almost exclusively restricted to large tracts of native forest. This paper reports a study in the temperate forest within a fragmented Andean piedmont landscape which demonstrates that smaller forest fragments in the farmland matrix are playing a key role in the persistence of the gui¤a. We estimated occupancy in both continuous native forest and remnant forest fragments and, with single-species/single-season models, evaluated the extent to which forest cover, habitat type and proximity to protected areas have a modulating effect on occupancy. A continuous survey during 2008-2009, in three seasons of 90-100 days each, accumulated 6,200 camera trap days and returned 47 photographs of gui¤a.Total detection in fragments was higher than in continuous forests, with detection confirmed in almost 70% of studied fragments. We found that probability of a site being occupied significantly increased with forest cover (adult/secondary forest, scrubland) and probability was low (,0.2) in sites with 50% of surrounding forest cover. Our study highlights the importance of remnant forest fragments in the mosaic of extensive agriculture for the spatial dynamics of a gui¤a population and hence for the future conservation of the species. |
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