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| Moreira-Acre, D.; Vergara, P.M.; Boutin, S.; Simonetti, J.A.; Briceno, C.; Acosta-Jamett, G. | |
| Native forest replacement by exotic plantations triggers changes in prey selection of mesocarnivores | |
| 2015 Biological Conservation (192): 258-267 | |
Replacement of native forests by forest plantations may change the composition and abundance of small mammals, thus influencing the foraging behavior of mesocarnivores in these human-created habitats. We assessed how differences in prey abundance between native forests and exotic plantations in southern Chile may explain the prey selection of four mesocarnivores, as analyzed from their scats. Using a spatial zero-inflated Poisson-model, we determined that the abundance of most small mammals was lower in plantations than native forests, except for three common species, which had similar or larger abundances in exotic plantations. We assessed mesocarnivores' prey selection by assessing the coefficients and log-ratios of use and availability of a Bayesian Resource Selection Function. We determined that in native forest, the preferences of kodkod (_Leopardus guigna_) for arboreal prey was stronger, whereas chilla fox (_Pseudalopex griseus_) and Darwin's fox (_Pseudalopex fulvipes_) exhibited a selective preference for ground prey. Darwin's fox also exhibited a habitat-dependent changes in their selection for Darwin's leaf-eared mouse (_Phyllotis darwini_), from a positive log ratio in native forest to a negative ratio in exotic plantations. Conversely, culpeo fox (_Pseudalopex culpaeus_) selected long-tailed colilargo (_Oligoryzomys longicaudatus_) and Chilean climbing mouse (_Irenomys tarsalis_) in plantations only, even though these prey were more abundant in native forests. Although mature commercial forest plantations may provide feeding grounds for mesocarnivores, depending on their species-specific ability to capture available prey, the decline of small mammal availability in plantations may modify the prey selection of mesocarnivores. |
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