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Abstract
Habitat modeling is one of the most common practices in ecology today, aimed at understanding complex associations between species and an array of environmental, bioclimatic, and anthropogenic factors. This review of studies of seven species of terrestrial bears (Ursidae) occupying four continents examines how habitat models have been employed, and the functionality of their predictions for management and conservation. Bear occurrence data have been obtained at the population level, as presence points (e.g., sign surveys or camera trapping), or as locations of individual radio-collared animals. Radio-collars provide greater insights into how bears interact with their environment and variability within populations; they are more commonly used in North America and Europe than in South America and Asia. Salient problematic issues apparent from this review included: biases in presence data; predictor variables being poor surrogates of actual behavioral drivers; predictor variables applied at a biologically inappropriate scale; and over-use of data repositories that tend to detach investigators from the species. In several cases, multiple models in the same area yielded different predictions; new presence data occurred outside the range of predicted suitable habitat; and future range projections, based on where bears presently exist, underestimated their adaptability. Findings here are likely relevant to other taxa.
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Beninato VA, Borghi CE, Andino N, Pérez MA, Giannoni SM. Effects of Tourism on the Habitat Use by a Threatened Large Rodent at a World Heritage Site. Animals (Basel) 2021; 11:ani11082278. [PMID: 34438735 PMCID: PMC8388436 DOI: 10.3390/ani11082278] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 07/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary The mara is a large endemic rodent, which major threats are habitat loss, hunting, and overgrazing. Maras live in arid and semiarid areas of Argentina. We studied the influence of environment variables and tourist activity on mara’s habitat use. We used different ecological approaches, from plant communities to floristic composition, in order to know at which level we can better detect the tourism effects on mara’s habitat use. We counted feces of maras as a habitat use index and recorded environmental variables along 80 samples in two plant communities, near and away-from the tourist circuit. To evaluate habitat use, we made statistical models using plant communities, plant strata, cover of trees, shrubs, and grasses, and plant species abundance as explaining factors. We detected the tourism effects on habitat use utilizing cover of trees, shrubs, and grasses, and cover of more abundant plant species, but not plant communities and plant strata, as explicative factors. Maras also selected areas with low bare soil with few pebbles on it. We found complex interactions between abiotic, biotic, and anthropic variables, studying maras’ preferred places near tourism activities, which they probably perceive as safer from predators. Abstract The mara is a large endemic rodent, which presents a marked decline in its populations, mainly because of habitat loss, hunting, and overgrazing. The Ischigualasto Provincial Park is a hyper-arid protected area at the Monte Desert of Argentina with an overall low plant cover. Our objective was to determine the influence of environmental variables and tourist activities on mara’s habitat use. We used different biological levels to explain it, from plant community to floristic composition, in order to know at which level we can better detect the effects of tourist activities. We registered fresh feces and habitat variables along 80 transects in two communities, near and far away from the tourist circuit. To evaluate habitat use, we fitted models at different biological levels: plant community, plant strata, plant biological forms, and floristic composition. At the community and plant strata levels, we could not detect any tourism effects on habitat use. However, we detected effects of tourist activities on mara’s habitat use at the plant strata and floristic composition levels. Maras also selected areas with a low proportion of both bare soil and pebbles cover. We found complex interactions between abiotic, biotic variables and tourism, studying mara’s places near tourism activities, probably because they perceive those places as predator-safe areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Veronica A. Beninato
- Centro de Investigación de la Geósfera y la Biósfera, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina; (V.A.B.); (N.A.); (M.A.P.)
| | - Carlos E. Borghi
- Centro de Investigación de la Geósfera y la Biósfera, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina; (V.A.B.); (N.A.); (M.A.P.)
- INTERBIODES, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Av. Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina
- Correspondence: (C.E.B.); (S.M.G.)
| | - Natalia Andino
- Centro de Investigación de la Geósfera y la Biósfera, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina; (V.A.B.); (N.A.); (M.A.P.)
- INTERBIODES, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Av. Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina
| | - Mauricio A. Pérez
- Centro de Investigación de la Geósfera y la Biósfera, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina; (V.A.B.); (N.A.); (M.A.P.)
| | - Stella M. Giannoni
- Centro de Investigación de la Geósfera y la Biósfera, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina; (V.A.B.); (N.A.); (M.A.P.)
- INTERBIODES, Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, Complejo Universitario Islas Malvinas, Av. Ignacio de la Roza 590 (Oeste), Rivadavia, San Juan J5402DCS, Argentina
- Instituto y Museo de Ciencias Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de San Juan, España 400 (N), San Juan J5400DCS, Argentina
- Correspondence: (C.E.B.); (S.M.G.)
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