Lack of feral livestock interference with native guanaco during the dry season in a South American desert

RAMIRO J. A. OVEJERO & PABLO ACEBES & JUAN E. MALO & JUAN TRABA & MARIA EUGENIA MOSCA TORRES & CARLOS E. BORGHI

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH

SPRINGER

Año: 2011 vol. 57 p. 1 - 9

1612-4642

Abstract Analyzing coexistence of exotic and nativeungulates in arid areas is important from both a theoreticaland a species conservation perspective. We assess thehabitat use patterns and possible interference betweenguanaco (Lama guanicoe) and feral livestock (donkey andcattle) in arid environments of South America. To determinehabitat use and niche overlap between exotic andnative ungulate species, ten sites with different habitats andsix natural waterholes were selected. Plots (20 at each site,ten around each waterhole) were randomly set up andcharacterized by environmental variables and relative useby cattle, donkey and guanaco through faecal pellet counts.Aggregation, niche breadth and niche overlap of the threeherbivores were analyzed at habitat level (mesoscale). Adirect redundancy analysis was used to examine therelationships between abundance of herbivore faeces andenvironmental variables at microscale. Mesoscale analysesshowed (i) an extensive use of the area by all three species,with guanaco having the highest niche breadth followed bydonkey and cattle and (ii) a large, broad guanaco?donkeyand donkey?cattle habitat overlap. However, results at afiner scale showed high spatial aggregation of ferallivestock species and an independent use of territory byguanacos. This study is the first to provide informationabout habitat partitioning between guanacos and ferallivestock in the hyper-arid Monte Desert biome and pointsto an apparent lack of negative effects on the nativeungulate.