NATIVE MAMMALS ACROSS GRAZING AND RESTORED WOODLANDS: AN OVERVIEW OF ECOLOGICAL CONNECTIVITY IN THE CENTRAL MONTE DESERT

TABENI, SOLANA; FLORENCIA SPIRITO; MIGUEL, M. FLORENCIA

MASTOZOOLOGíA NEOTROPICAL

SOCIEDAD ARGENTINA PARA EL ESTUDIO DE LOS MAMÍFEROS

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2017 vol. 24 p. 301 - 312

0327-9383

The semi-arid regions of Argentina have been subject to numerous human activities such as grazingby domestic animals. These activities bring about changes in the spatial pattern of the landscape by alteringa variety of ecological processes due to loss of natural habitats and reduction of native species diversity. Inthe central Monte Desert, the establishment of protected areas has been implemented as a strategy for therecovery of native woodland communities. In addition, to ensure woodland perpetuity and the maintenance ofecological functions it is required to incorporate new approaches that include woodland connectivity with thesurrounding landscape. The response of small and medium-sized mammals to boundaries highlights the need toconsider the species-specific response in the selection of resources, the use of space and scales of observationfitted for the species. We focused on the socio-political boundaries between land uses to illustrate the changesin structural connectivity and their impact on functional connectivity through seed dispersal by mammals.Overall, understanding how differently managed lands are structurally and functionally connected may help usto design better management strategies aimed at biodiversity conservation, with focus both on species and theecological processes they are involved in.