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Jiménez J, Del Río L, Ferreras P, Godinho R. Low signs of territorial behavior in the Eurasian otter during low-water conditions in a Mediterranean river. Sci Rep 2024; 14:11478. [PMID: 38769409 PMCID: PMC11106847 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-62432-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 05/16/2024] [Indexed: 05/22/2024] Open
Abstract
The Eurasian otter Lutra lutra is a territorial semi-aquatic carnivore usually found at low densities in rivers, coastal areas, and wetlands. Its diet is based on prey associated with aquatic environments. Mediterranean rivers are highly seasonal, and suffer reduced flow during the summer, resulting in isolated river sections (pools) that sometimes can be left with a minimal amount of water, leading to concentrations of food for otters. To our knowledge, this process, which was known to field naturalists, has not been accurately described, nor have otter densities been estimated under these conditions. In this study, we describe the population size and movements of an aggregation of otters in an isolated pool in the Guadiana River in the Tablas de Daimiel National Park (central Spain), which progressively dried out during the spring-summer of 2022, in a context of low connectivity due to the absence of circulating water in the Guadiana and Gigüela rivers. Using non-invasive genetic sampling of 120 spraints collected along 79.4 km of sampling transects and spatial capture-recapture methods, we estimated the otter density at 1.71 individuals/km of river channel length (4.21 individuals/km2) in a progressively drying river pool, up to five times higher than previously described in the Iberian Peninsula. The movement patterns obtained with the spatial capture-recapture model are not quite different from those described in low density, which seems to indicate a wide home range overlap, with low signs of territoriality.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Jiménez
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo 12, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain.
| | - Lucía Del Río
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo 12, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Pablo Ferreras
- Instituto de Investigación en Recursos Cinegéticos (IREC, CSIC-UCLM-JCCM), Ronda de Toledo 12, 13071, Ciudad Real, Spain
| | - Raquel Godinho
- Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, CIBIO, Universidade Do Porto, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
- Departamento de Biologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade Do Porto, 4169-007, Porto, Portugal
- BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Campus de Vairão, 4485-661, Vairão, Portugal
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Penteriani V, Etchart L, González-Bernardo E, Hartasánchez A, Falcinelli D, Ruiz‑Villar H, Morales‑González A, Delgado MDM. Sex-, age-, and time-specific visual communication in brown bears. J Mammal 2023; 104:279-291. [PMID: 37032703 PMCID: PMC10075341 DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyac126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Intraspecific communication in mammals is well-documented but generally restricted to chemical and acoustic signaling. However, other overlooked channels, such as visual signaling, may be used to communicate among conspecifics. Here, by using experimental manipulations together with camera traps on 13 brown bear (Ursus arctos) rubbing trees in the Cantabrian Mountains (northwestern Spain), we document detailed temporal patterns and behavioral aspects of a recently discovered novel communication channel for this species, visual signaling through the trunk debarking of focal trees. Video footage showed that visual marking is a sex-, age-, and time-specific means of communication in brown bears, being performed exclusively by adult males during the mating season (mainly April–June in the study area). Trunk debarking was always associated with chemical marking and was never an isolated behavior, suggesting that visual and chemical signals might be complementary. Visual and chemical marks may provide different information; for example, visual marks could be an indicator of individual size and, thus, the dominance status of adult males looking for mating opportunities. This is the first time that evidence is provided showing that visual signaling in a large carnivore is exclusive to a specific class of individuals (adult males) and linked to reproductive needs only. Bear visual signaling not only represents an advance in our comprehension of animal communication but may also serve to easily locate the mating areas of mammals, which are crucial for large carnivore species, such as the brown bear, that frequently need specific and urgent plans for conservation and management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vincenzo Penteriani
- National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN), Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) , c/José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid , Spain
| | - Léa Etchart
- UMR 6249 Chrono-environnement, Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté , 16 route de Gray, 25000 Besançon , France
| | - Enrique González-Bernardo
- Departamento de Zoología, Universidad de Granada, Facultad de Ciencias , Avda. Fuente Nueva S/N, E-18071 Granada , Spain
| | - Alfonso Hartasánchez
- FAPAS Fondo para la Protección de los Animales Salvajes , Ctra. AS-228, km 8,9 – Tuñón, 33115 Santo Adriano, Asturias , Spain
| | - Daniele Falcinelli
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome , 00185 Rome , Italy
| | - Héctor Ruiz‑Villar
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, CSIC-Oviedo University-Principality of Asturias), Mieres Campus , 33600 Mieres , Spain
| | - Ana Morales‑González
- Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana , C.S.I.C, Avda. Americo Vespucio 26, 41092 Seville , Spain
| | - María del Mar Delgado
- Biodiversity Research Institute (IMIB, CSIC-Oviedo University-Principality of Asturias), Mieres Campus , 33600 Mieres , Spain
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Characteristics of natural and anthropogenic mortality of an endangered brown bear population. J Nat Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jnc.2022.126288] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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Quantifying Crown Morphology of Mixed Pine-Oak Forests Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning. REMOTE SENSING 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/rs13234955] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Mixed forests make up the majority of natural forests, and they are conducive to improving the resilience and resistance of forest ecosystems. Moreover, it is in the crown of the trees where the effect of inter- and intra-specific interaction between them is evident. However, our knowledge of changes in crown morphology caused by density, competition, and mixture of specific species is still limited. Here, we provide insight on stand structural complexity based on the study of four response crown variables (Maximum Crown Width Height, MCWH; Crown Base Height, CBH; Crown Volume, CV; and Crown Projection Area, CPA) derived from multiple terrestrial laser scans. Data were obtained from six permanent plots in Northern Spain comprising of two widespread species across Europe; Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea (Matt.) Liebl.). A total of 193 pines and 256 oaks were extracted from the point cloud. Correlation test were conducted (ρ ≥ 0.9) and finally eleven independent variables for each target tree were calculated and categorized into size, density, competition and mixture, which was included as a continuous variable. Linear and non-linear multiple regressions were used to fit models to the four crown variables and the best models were selected according to the lowest AIC Index and biological sense. Our results provide evidence for species plasticity to diverse neighborhoods and show complementarity between pines and oaks in mixtures, where pines have higher MCWH and CBH than oaks but lower CV and CPA, contrary to oaks. The species complementarity in crown variables confirm that mixtures can be used to increase above ground structural diversity.
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