IADIZA   20886
INSTITUTO ARGENTINO DE INVESTIGACIONES DE LAS ZONAS ARIDAS
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Habitat use by vicuñas (Vicugna vicugna, Molina 1782) in the Los Andes protected area (Salta, Argentina).
Autor/es:
MOSCA TORRES, M.E; PUIG, SILVIA; GROTZ, MAURICIO
Lugar:
Mendoza, Argentina
Reunión:
Congreso; 10th International Mammalogical Congress; 2009
Resumen:
Topography, food and water availability, and social structure can influence habitat use by vicuñas. Families, bachelor groups and solitary vicuñas, habitat type and distance from water were studied in the Los Andes Reserve, during summer and winter 2006. Scan sampling was applied from 8 am to 5 pm. Shrubby slopes and foothills predominate in the study area, complemented by a wetland, grassy foothills and slopes. Correspondence analyses were used to detect associations between social and habitat variables. The χ² goodness-of-fit test and Bailey’s index allowed detecting habitat selectivity by vicuña groups. In both seasons, groups were associated with habitat type and distance from water, once the time of day was included in the analysis. In summer, vicuñas were associated with shrubby slopes during morning and afternoon hours and with shrubby foothills at midday. In winter, vicuñas were associated with shrubby and grassy slopes in the early morning, shrubby and grassy foothills at midday, and shrubby foothills in the afternoon. Vicuñas were far away, near and at intermediate distance from water during the morning, midday and afternoon, respectively, in both seasons. All social groups preferred shrubby foothills in summer, whereas family and bachelor groups avoided grassy foothills during the morning, and families and solitaries avoided shrubby slopes in the afternoon. All groups preferred grassy slopes in winter, solitaries also preferred shrubby slopes and avoided shrubby foothills in the afternoon. The association of vicuña groups with shrubby habitats, preferring foothills in summer, could be attributed to their high availability of the most preferred grass (Poa sp.). The winter associations also with grassy habitats, and the non-selective use of most habitats by families and bachelor groups, suggest greater displacement to search for food because of low food availability. Association with water at midday had already been observed in other vicuña populations.