Conservation of small and medium-sized mammals following native woodland regrowth: a case study in a long-term UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

TABENI S.; SPIRITO, M. F; OJEDA, R. A

JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012

0140-1963

In arid zones, land uses such as cattle ranching require important decisions concerning theprotection of habitats and species. These typically involve habitat regrowth, and establishment ofprotected areas. However, species responses to the protected area or to the surrounding matrix mayvary depending on their ecology, particularly habitat requirements. Our objective here was to evaluatethe role of one such protected dryland (MaB Reserve of Ñacuñán) in the central Monte Desert, andadjacent rangelands, in ensuring the conservation of small and medium-sized mammals. By using datafrom both trapping and indirect sign, mammal richness and abundance were compared in the differenthabitats inside and outside the Reserve. After over 50 years of livestock exclusion in Ñacuñán, ourresults show significant changes in habitat structure and mammal diversity between protected andunprotected areas. The Reserve was occupied by species associated with high plant cover, andsurrounding areas by those adapted to open habitats. Our results demonstrate that unprotected areasplay a major role in conserving diversity, as illustrated by the presence of the endangered Dolichotispatagonum in rangelands outside the Reserve