干旱区生态环境知识资源中心(Arid): Modeling the spatial structure of the endemic mara (Dolichotis patagonum) across modified landscapes

Arid

DOI	10.7717/peerj.6367
	Modeling the spatial structure of the endemic mara (Dolichotis patagonum) across modified landscapes
	Antun, Milagros 1; Baldi, Ricardo 1,2
通讯作者	Antun, Milagros
来源期刊	PEERJ
ISSN	2167-8359
出版年	2019
卷号	7
英文摘要	Across modified landscapes, anthropic factors can affect habitat selection by animals and consequently their abundance and distribution patterns. The study of the spatial structure of wild populations is crucial to gain knowledge on species' response to habitat quality, and a key for the design and implementation of conservation actions. This is particularly important for a low-density and widely distributed species such as the mara (Dolichotis patagonum), a large rodent endemic to Argentina across the Monte and Patagonian drylands where extensive sheep ranching predominates. We aimed to assess the spatial variation in the abundance of maras and to identify the natural and anthropic factors influencing the observed patterns in Peninsula Valdes, a representative landscape of Patagonia. We conducted ground surveys during the austral autumn from 2015 to 2017. We built density surface models to account for the variation in mara abundance, and obtained a map of mara density at a resolution of four km(2). We estimated an overall density of 0.93 maras.km(-2) for the prediction area of 3,476 km(2). The location of ranch buildings, indicators of human presence, had a strong positive effect on the abundance of maras, while the significant contribution of the geographic longitude suggested that mara density increases with higher rainfall. Although human presence favored mara abundance, presumably by providing protection against predators, it is likely that the association could bring negative consequences for maras and other species. The use of spatial models allowed us to provide the first estimate of mara abundance at a landscape scale and its spatial variation at a high resolution. Our approach can contribute to the assessment of mara population abundance and the factors shaping its spatial structure elsewhere across the species range, all crucial attributes to identify and prioritize conservation actions.
英文关键词	Distribution and abundance Dolichotis patagonum Natural and anthropic factors spatial models Patagonia Peninsula Valdes
类型	Article
语种	英语
国家	Argentina
开放获取类型	Green Submitted, Green Published, gold
收录类别	SCI-E
WOS记录号	WOS:000458408800005
WOS关键词	HABITAT SELECTION ; TWEEDIE DISTRIBUTION ; PENINSULA VALDES ; MONTE DESERT ; CONSERVATION ; VEGETATION ; ECOSYSTEMS ; PATTERNS ; GRASSES ; CATCH
WOS类目	Multidisciplinary Sciences
WOS研究方向	Science & Technology - Other Topics
资源类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.177/qdio/handle/2XILL650/217897
作者单位	1.Consejo Nacl Invest Cient & Tecn, IPEEC, Grp Estudio Mamiferos Terrestres, Puerto Madryn, Argentina; 2.Wildlife Conservat Soc, Buenos Aires, DF, Argentina
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Antun, Milagros,Baldi, Ricardo. Modeling the spatial structure of the endemic mara (Dolichotis patagonum) across modified landscapes[J],2019,7.
APA	Antun, Milagros,&Baldi, Ricardo.(2019).Modeling the spatial structure of the endemic mara (Dolichotis patagonum) across modified landscapes.PEERJ,7.
MLA	Antun, Milagros,et al."Modeling the spatial structure of the endemic mara (Dolichotis patagonum) across modified landscapes".PEERJ 7(2019).