Interaction between wild camelids and livestock in an Andean semidesert

BORGNIA M.,; VILÁ B.; CASSINI M

JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

Elsevier

Año: 2008 vol. 72 p. 2150 - 2158

0140-1963

A b s t r a c tIsoleg theory predicts that coexistence between two competing species can occur whenthe subordinate, generalist species uses alternative patches of resources as the densityof the dominant specialist species increases. These models provide a framework todetermine if a native species is subordinate to an introduced one, thus requiresconservation considerations. We investigated habitat interactions between a wildneotropical camelid and domestic exotic ungulates in the Andean Puna semi-desert ofSouth America. The Puna or Altiplano is an arid environment located in high altitudes,with cold and dry weather, and two main types of habitats, steppes and swamp areas.There was a high overlap of diets between species. Vicun˜as were generalists in the use ofhabitat, but invested foraging effort in swamp habitats, while livestock were taken toswamp habitats by local people. Vicun˜as and livestock were spatially segregated.Vicun˜as used the preferred habitat less than expected from their foraging preference.We concluded that vicun˜as and livestock coexist because vicun˜as occupy sub-optimalhabitats whilst livestock concentrate in the richest ones. Vicun˜as can deal with poorhabitats because they have several adaptations to live in deserts.& 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.