Conservation of small and medium-size mammals following native woodland regrowth: a case study in a long-term UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Argentina

TABENI, SOLANA; SPIRITO, FLORENCIA; OJEDA, RICARDO

JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2013 vol. 88 p. 250 - 253

0140-1963

In arid zones, land uses such as cattle ranching require important decisions concerning the protection of habitats and species. These typically involve habitat regrowth, and establishment of protected areas. However, species responses to the protected area or to the surrounding matrix may vary depending on their ecology, particularly habitat requirements. Our objective here was to evaluate the role of one such protected dryland (MaB Reserve of Ñacuñán) in the central Monte Desert, and adjacent rangelands, in ensuring the conservation of small and medium-size mammals. By using data from both trapping and indirect sign, mammal richness and abundance were compared in the different habitats inside and outside the Reserve. After over 50 years of livestock exclusion in Ñacuñán, our results show significant changes in habitat structure and mammal diversity between protected and unprotected areas. Although outside the Reserve some habitats showed higher species richness and abundance. The Reserve was occupied by species associated with high plant cover, and surrounding areas by those adapted to open habitats. Our results demonstrate that unprotected areas play a major role in conserving diversity, as illustrated by the presence of the endangered Dolichotis patagonum in rangelands outside the Reserve.