ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELLING FOR THE RARE AND SPECIALIZED ANDEAN CAT: IMPLICATIONS FOR CONSERVATION IN THE HIGH ANDES

MARINO J.; BENNET M.; VILLALBA L.; LUCHERINI M.; IRIARTE A.; SILLERO-ZUBIRI C.

Mendoza

Congreso; 10th International Mammalogical Congress; 2009

Aspects of the spatial ecology of specialized organisms can inform conservation actions when their elusive nature precludes deeper understanding of their behaviour and population biology. We applied ecological niche modeling to study the rare and endangered andean cat (Oreailurus jacobita). Restricted largely to the High Andes, this is the more specialized of a guild of carnivores feeding on a narrow range of high-altitude prey species.  Potential habitat for the cat and its main prey (the southern mountain vizcacha Lagidium viscacia) exists in protected areas that tessellate across international borders around the triple frontier between Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. From coordinated international research we explored ecological limitations to the species distribution from key environmental variables at local level (using presence/absence data on prey and carnivores and Resource Selection Functions) and landscape level (using presence-only data and Maximum Entropy Models -MAXENT). Our results contribute to generate ecological adaptation hypotheses and to identify key areas for the long-term protection of High Andean vertebrates across international borders.