INVESTIGADORES
LUCHERINI Mauro
artículos
Título:
Spatial organization of Pampas fox in a grassland relict of central Argentina: a flexible system
Autor/es:
LUENGOS VIDAL E.; SILLERO-ZUBIRI C.; MARINO J.; CASANAVE E.B.; LUCHERINI M.
Revista:
JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY (1987)
Editorial:
WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC
Referencias:
Año: 2012 vol. 287 p. 133 - 141
ISSN:
0952-8369
Resumen:
The Pampas fox (Pseudalopex gymnocercus)
is a generalist South American canid that adapts well to the human-dominated
landscape of the Argentine pampas, largely converted to agriculture and
pastures, but little is known about its ranging behaviour and spatial
organization of foxes in a relic native grasslands. We captured and tracked 13
radio-tagged adult foxes between December 1998 and June 2005 in Ernesto
Tornquist Provincial Park, a protected area with a dense population of wild
horses, an important food item for foxes. The home-range of 10 adult males
averaged 1.40 ± 0.96. km² (mean ± SD; 95% Minimum Convex Polygon, MCP) and was
not significantly larger than that of 3 adult females, 1.20 ± 1.07 km² (95% MCP).
Evidence of individuals site fidelity over the study period is indicative of
locally abundant food resources all year round. It is likely that the
availability of horse carcasses is a main driver of the spatial organization of
Pampas foxes in this population. Our population density estimate of 1.1-1.5
foxes per km2 falls within known density range for Pampas foxes, and
close to the upper limit, as also expected from an abundant and aggregated food
resource such as horse carrion. Reduced hunting pressures, however, may also
contribute to explain the relatively high densities of foxes in this protected
area.