IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Ciocheti, G. | |
| Uso de habitat e padrÆo de atividade de m‚dios e grandes mam¡feros e nicho tr¢fico de Lobo-Guar , On‡a-Parda e Jaguatirica numa paisagem agroflorestal, no estado de SÆo Paulo | |
| 2007 Full Book | |
The following study analyzed activity patterns and habitat use of large and medium size mammals as well as diet and trophic niche overlapping of feline and canid species in a fragmented area of the State of SÆo Paulo. The landscape studied contains two fully protected conservation units with cerrado and semi-deciduous vegetation and also remnants of native semi-deciduous forest located in private properties. The general hypothesis of this study are: in more impacted environments, _i_, large and medium size mammal species tend to generalize their behavior regarding habitat use and activity patterns and _ii_, top food chain predators increase the competition for resources. The following aspects were studied through photographic traps and fecal sorting: a) frequency of different habitat use by large and medium size mammals; b) activity pattern of large and medium size mammals; c) diet and niche overlapping of three top food chain carnivores: _Chysocyon brachyurus, Puma concolor_ and _Leopardus pardalis_. Samples were withdrawn from seven fragments of native phytophysiognomies - cerrado senstu stricto, cerradÆo, and semideciduous forest - and from areas of eucalyptus plantations. One hundred and sixty five photographs were obtained, where 17 species were identified. Two hundred and thirty three samples of feces were collected and identified, of which 93 of _Chrysocyon brachyurus_, 68 of _Puma concolor_, 38 of _Leopardus pardalis_, 30 of other small felines and 4 of _Cerdocyon thous_. The results show that, generally, large and medium size mammals use the entire area. However, more specialist mammals, such as the _Sylvilagus brasiliensis_, kept their preference for a more specific habitat. Spearman correlation tests demonstrated that those species which are more susceptible to anthropic alterations were more correlated with areas containing a higher connectivity and bigger size. The data also indicated that species are generalizing their behavior regarding the activity patterns: species that were active in some periods of the day are now remaining active in other periods as well. Among the carnivore species studied, _Chrysocyon brachyurus_ was the specie with the most diversified diet, feeding on birds, reptiles, fruits, insects and mammals. _Puma concolor_ and _Leopardus pardalis_ had more restricted diets, where 90% of the items ingested belonged to other mammals. The trophic niche of _C. brachyurus_ and _L. pardalis_ species were strongly overlapped, indicating competition between them. The results obtained through photographic traps and diet analysis indicate that there might be a relation between more conserved areas (less isolated larger areas immersed in more permeable matrixes) and the frequency of mammals, the overlapping niche of top food chain carnivores ad the density of feced found. |
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