Spatial arrangement of the enviromental suitability for maned wolf in a central province of Argentina

ULIBARRIE, A; CRISTALDI, M; OROZCO, MM; PAUTASSO, A.

Congreso; 100th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Mammalogists; 2021

American Society of Mammalogists

Knowledge about the natural and anthropic environmental features that shape spatial patterns of species is essential to define conservation strategies. The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is the largest canid in South America, and in Argentina, it is currently classified as ?Vulnerable?. Our aim was to determine the spatial arrangement of the environmental suitability for the maned wolf in the province of Santa Fe where changes in its range are taking place. We identified association patterns between environmental variables and maned wolf records in Santa Fe during the period 1996-2019. The environmental suitability was positive related to average annual temperatures and negative related to precipitation. Environmental suitability scores were higher in areas with low or medium proportions of grassland, forests, non-permanent flooded soils and proximity to permanent water bodies. Areas where crops predominated showed lower environmental suitability scores than those where other environmental features predominated. We also found association patterns between the suitability and variables of distance to cities and length of paved and unpaved routes. This may imply biases in the database. The greatest environmental suitability scores for the maned wolf in Santa Fe were mainly in the center-east and north of the province where a large percentage of the historical releases were carried out. These results can contribute for management protocols of the maned wolf at both provincial and national levels.