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Pereira, J.A.
Efectos del manejo ganadero y disturbios asociados sobre la ecolog¡a tr¢fica y espacial y la demograf¡a del gato mont‚s en el desierto del Monte, Argentina
2009  Full Book

Although livestock management strongly modifies natural habitats, knowledge about the way in which wild species respond to changes in the landscape is scarce. The effects of livestock management and their associated disturbances on the trophic and spatial ecology and demography of the Geoffroyïs cat (_Leopardus geoffroyi_) were evaluated through a comparative approach between Lihu‚ Calel National Park (NP) and adjacent cattle ranches (CR), La Pampa, Argentina. The abundance of the main prey of this carnivore (small rodents and passerine birds) was significantly lower in CR than in NP. Diet of Geoffroyïs cats was not significantly different between areas and it was composed mainly of small rodents in both sites, which indicates that this feline was efficient enough in CR to maintain the level of consumption of its main prey in spite of its lower abundance. Between 2002 and 2008, 35 Geoffroyïs cats were radiocollared and monitored by radiotelemetry. Home-range size of males was similar in both areas, but females showed larger home ranges in CR than in NP. The smaller home range overlap between males in CR, the change in habitat use from closed areas (forests and mixed shrublands) in NP towards more open areas (steppes and open shrubland) in CR, and the increase in the movement rate of both sexes in CR are consistent with a lower abundance of trophic resources, and could be interpreted as responses by Geoffroyïs cat to increase foraging success. Survival rate of Geoffroyïs cats was 40% higher in NP with respect to CR. Starvation was the main cause of mortality in both sites, followed by puma predation in NP and by hunting or dog predation in CR. These sources of mortality and the effects of livestock management on the habitat and the prey base could be responsible for the 50% decrease in the density of Geoffroyïs cats in CR with respect to NP. The dynamics of this population at the landscape level partially fit source-sink models, but the subpopulation inhabiting the site with lower survival (CR) showed a high emigration rate, a remarkable difference with respect to "typical" systems that function according to this mechanism. The "hypothesis of the matrix of intermediate demographic adversity" is proposed as a new mechanism to describe the dynamics of this population at the landscape level.

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