Mamíferos exóticos de Argentina

AGUSTINA NOVILLO; RICARDO ALBERTO OJEDA

Gramado – RS, Brasil

Congreso; I Congresso Sul-Americano de Mastozoolgía; 2006

Invasive species and habitat fragmentation are one of the leading threats to global biodiversity and ecosystem balance. The objectives of our presentation are: 1) to assess the pathways and traits of mammal invasive species in the southern cone of South America, and 2) to discuss within this framework, the ecology of two of the most conspicuous invaders, the wild boar and European hare. Nineteen introduced mammal species (excluding domestics) are present in southern South America.  Among these, 17 species (the majority of them natural from Eurasia), represent 5% of the terrestrial native mammals of Argentina. Invasion history reveals that the majority of these especies were intentionally introduced with hunting purposes. Only four of them were accidentally introduced (hitchhiker species). The total set of invader species are distributed in the temperate eco-regions south of 36 ° lat. Some of the ecological attributes suggested for their success are their wide geographic ranges, broad herbivorous and omnivorous diet, and a predator free environment. On a regional scale, we found that the wild boar, Sus scrofa, and the European hare, Lepus europaeus, represent  two of the most successful invasive species in Argentina. We address their ecological role, interaction with native herbivores, and their potential impact on biodiversity (this project was partially funded by ALARM project (EU), CONICET and SECYT grants).