Use of Coastal Area Habitats by Land Mammals

LUENGOS VIDAL E.M.; CARUSO N.C.; MARTINEZ, S.; CASANAVE E.B; LUCHERINI M.

The Bahía Blanca Estuary Ecology and Biodiversity

Springer

Año: 2021; p. 397 - 434

The dynamics of an ecological system are closely related to the processes that occur in the adjacent environments. Consumers living in terrestrial habitats can take advantage of allochthonous resources that originate in highly productive aquatic environments and that may enable their populations to reach higher densities than those supported by land resources only. In turn, these subsidized consumers may influence the dynamics of other consumers? populations. The terrestrial landscape that surrounds the estuary of Bahía Blanca is very diverse given its location at the intersection between the Espinal and Pampa ecoregions, but also because of the modifications related to human activities, and the presence of the coastal environments increases the complexity of its ecosystems. The ecology of the continental mammalian communities living around the estuary and coastline beyond the estuarial limits have been poorly investigated, but it is known that many species, mainly carnivores, make use of coastal environments, and the presence of populations of endemic rodents was reported. In this chapter, we review the effect of the coastal environment on the ecology of large- and medium-sized mammals. Additionally, we discuss the importance of the anthropic modifications of these coastal areas on the conservation of the coastalmammal community.