Ungulates of the Gran Chaco: regional status assessment and case studies

PERIAGO, MARIA EUGENIA; CHILLO, VERÓNICA; OJEDA, RICARDO A.

Belfast

Congreso; 11th International Mammalogical Congress (IMC 11); 2013

International Federfation of Mammalogists (IFM)

Alterations in fire regimes and accelerated changes in the Gran Chaco have resulted in a land use mosaic with bare soil and shrub  encroachment. Moreover, hunting and habitat loss increasingly threaten the functional diversity of mammals by jeopardizing the animals themselves as well as the ecosystem services they provide. At a national level, of the nine native ungulates found in the Gran Chaco, three species are considered Endangered, two are Vulnerable, two are Near Threatened, and two are Least Concern. Specifically, we present diet and habitat use of the grey brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) and collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) in six land use configurations in the arid Chaco. Our results indicate that the brocket deer selects sites within primary and secondary forest, and avoids sites with mixed and Larrea shrublands. Peccary signs, on the other hand, were only found in primary forest. Both animals avoided logged pastureland and cultivated crops.