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Fernández-Cabello I, Franch M, Vilella M, Fernandez-Arrieta N, Rota M, Sanglas A, Baqué-Díaz E, Gallardet M, Federico P, Peris A, Serratosa E, Real J, Sayol F, Puig-Gironès R. Assessing the role of habitat, climate, and anthropization gradients on terrestrial mammal diversity in the western Mediterranean basin. Integr Zool 2024. [PMID: 39003665 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/15/2024]
Abstract
Mammal species globally exhibit distribution patterns conditioned by environmental conditions and human impact. The Mediterranean basin provides an ideal system to study these effects due to its diverse climate, and habitat conditions. In this work, we aim to assess the impact of landscape heterogeneity and anthropization degree on terrestrial mammal diversity in this region. Accordingly, we deployed over 300 camera traps across 28 sites for 3 months. Detected mammal species (weighing more than 1kg) were classified as domestic carnivores, domestic ungulates, wild carnivores, wild ungulates, lagomorphs, and large rodents. Alpha and beta diversity were calculated for each group and all wild mammals. Simple linear regressions and multimodal analysis were conducted between mammal diversities and climate, environmental conditions, landscape heterogeneity, and anthropization degree variables. Redundancy analyses were performed to identify variables and species determining the mammalian community composition. Indexes measuring landscape heterogeneity, anthropization degree, and its 30-year change did not correlate with mammal diversity. However, the difference in elevation within sites and domestic carnivore abundance showed a significant positive correlation with some of the diversity indexes. Nonetheless, rainfall and mean elevation factors generally showed the highest correlation with mammal diversity. Instead, a few influential species, including generalists and open-habitat specialists, highlighted the importance of conserving open areas, as well as the importance of the Pyrenees region as a key habitat for certain species. Therefore, climatic variables emerged as the key determinants of mammal diversity, highlighting climate change as a potential threat to mammal diversity in this area.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marc Franch
- Departament de Ciències Ambientals, University of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
- CICGE-Centro de Investigação em Ciências Geo-Espaciais, Observatório Astronómico Prof. Manuel de Barros, University of Porto, Portugal
| | - Marc Vilella
- BiBio Research Group, Natural Sciences Museum of Granollers, Granollers, Spain
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Nerea Fernandez-Arrieta
- Department of Zoology and Animal Cell Biology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
| | - Marc Rota
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
- Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), Solsona, Spain
| | - Ariadna Sanglas
- Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC, Seville, Spain
| | - Eric Baqué-Díaz
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marc Gallardet
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
- Parc Zoològic de Barcelona, Parc de la Ciutadella, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Pau Federico
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Peris
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eric Serratosa
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Joan Real
- Equip de Biologia de la Conservació, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals & Institut de la Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBIO), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Ferran Sayol
- Grup de Recerca en Carnívors de Catalunya (Felis-ICHN), Institució Catalana d'Història Natural, Barcelona, Spain
- Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals (CREAF), Cerdanyola del Vallès, Catalonia, Spain
| | - Roger Puig-Gironès
- Departament de Ciències Ambientals, University of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
- Equip de Biologia de la Conservació, Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals & Institut de la Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBIO), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
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Watchorn DJ, Doherty TS, Wilson BA, Garkaklis MJ, Driscoll DA. How do invasive predators and their native prey respond to prescribed fire? Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e11450. [PMID: 38783847 PMCID: PMC11112300 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.11450] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 05/07/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Fire shapes animal communities by altering resource availability and species interactions, including between predators and prey. In Australia, there is particular concern that two highly damaging invasive predators, the feral cat (Felis catus) and European red fox (Vulpes vulpes), increase their activity in recently burnt areas and exert greater predation pressure on the native prey due to their increased exposure. We tested how prescribed fire occurrence and extent, along with fire history, vegetation, topography, and distance to anthropogenic features (towns and farms), affected the activity (detection frequency) of cats, foxes, and the native mammal community in south-eastern Australia. We used camera traps to quantify mammal activity before and after a prescribed burn and statistically tested how the fire interacted with these habitat variables to affect mammal activity. We found little evidence that the prescribed fire influenced the activity of cats and foxes and no evidence of an effect on kangaroo or small mammal (<800 g) activity. Medium-sized mammals (800-2000 g) were negatively associated with prescribed fire extent, suggesting that prescribed fire has a negative impact on these species in the short term. The lack of a clear activity increase from cats and foxes is likely a positive outcome from a fire management perspective. However, we highlight that their response is likely dependent upon factors like fire size, severity, and prey availability. Future experiments should incorporate GPS-trackers to record fine-scale movements of cats and foxes in temperate ecosystems immediately before and after prescribed fire to best inform management within protected areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darcy J. Watchorn
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus)Deakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
| | - Tim S. Doherty
- School of Life and Environmental SciencesThe University of SydneySydneyNew South WalesAustralia
- Biodiversity and Conservation ScienceDepartment of Biodiversity, Conservation and AttractionsWoodvaleWestern AustraliaAustralia
| | - Barbara A. Wilson
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus)Deakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
| | | | - Don A. Driscoll
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences (Burwood Campus)Deakin UniversityGeelongVictoriaAustralia
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De Souza Ferreira Neto G, Ortega JCG, Melo Carneiro F, Souza de Oliveira S, Oliveira R, Beggiato Baccaro F. Productivity correlates positively with mammalian diversity independently of the species’ feeding guild, body mass, or the vertical strata explored by the species. Mamm Rev 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/mam.12282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gilson De Souza Ferreira Neto
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia / INPA‐V8 INPA – Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia Av. André Araújo 2936, Petrópolis Manaus Amazonas69067‐375Brazil
| | - Jean C. G. Ortega
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Manejo de Recursos Naturais Universidade Federal do Acre Rio Branco CEP 69915‐900 Brazil
| | - Fernanda Melo Carneiro
- Universidade Estadual de Goiás (UEG) Campus Anápolis de Ciências Exatas e Tecnológicas Henrique Santillo Anápolis Goiás CEP 75132‐903 Brazil
| | - Sandro Souza de Oliveira
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Universidade Federal de Goiás Av. Esperança, s/n, Setor Vila Itatiaia Goiânia Goiás CEP 74690‐900 Brazil
| | - Regison Oliveira
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Clima e Ambiente ‐ PPG‐CLIAMB ‐ Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa da Amazônia Av. André Araújo 2936, Petrópolis Manaus Amazonas 69067‐375 Brazil
| | - Fabricio Beggiato Baccaro
- Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Ecologia / INPA‐V8 INPA – Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia Av. André Araújo 2936, Petrópolis Manaus Amazonas69067‐375Brazil
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas Departamento de Biologia Universidade Federal do Amazonas Av. General Rodrigo Octávio, 6200, Coroado I Manaus Amazonas CEP: 69077‐000 Brazil
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Nalliah R, Sitters H, Smith A, Di Stefano J. Untangling the influences of fire, habitat and introduced predators on the endangered heath mouse. Anim Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel Nalliah
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Creswick VIC Australia
| | - Holly Sitters
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Creswick VIC Australia
| | - Amy Smith
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Creswick VIC Australia
| | - Julian Di Stefano
- School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences The University of Melbourne Creswick VIC Australia
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