IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Jaksic, F.M.; Soriguer, R.C. | |
| Predation upon the European rabbit (_Oryctolagus cuniculus_) in mediterranean habitats of Chile and Spain: A comparative analysis | |
| 1981 Journal of Animal Ecology (50): 269-281 | |
(1) The European Rabbit (_Oryctolagus cuniculus_) is a native of the mediterranean habitats of Spain, and was recently introduced to ecologically similar habitats in central Chile. (2) A survey of the quantitative information on body sizes of predators and on the importance of rabbits as prey in both southern Spain and central Chile was made. Patterns of habitat utilization by rabbits in the two areas were also compared. (3) Rabbits contribute on the average 20.6% of the vertebrate prey of twenty-nine species of Spanish predators; the figure is 2.0 in the diet of the sixteen species of Chilean predators. The statistical distribution of body sizes of predators in southern Spain is not significantly different from that of predators in central Chile. The curve of habitat utilization by rabbits in central Chile is skewed toward low values of shrub cover, and that in southern Spain toward higher values of shrub cover. (4) The low consumption of rabbits by Chilean predators is associated with higher densities of native prey, relative to southern Spain. This might render more profitable for Chilean predators hunting for native prey than for introduced rabbits. |
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