Salicaceae afforestations: advantage or disadvantage for Neotropical otter in its southernmost distribution?

KRUG, CECILIA PAMELA; GARCÍA CABRERA, MARÍA SOL; QUINTANA, RUBÉN D.

HYSTRIX

ASSOC TERIOLOGICA ITAL

Año: 2019 vol. 30 p. 166 - 171

0394-1914

Anthropogenic environmental changes may affect habitat suitability for wildlife. Currently, the commercial plantation of non-native trees is one of the most important type of land-use worldwide. The Lower Paraná River Delta in Argentina is a macromosaic of wetlands of high biodiversity value, which has been modified by Salicaceae afforestations. In this context, Neotropical otter, Lontra longicaudis (classified as Near Threatened at world level and as Endangered in Argentina), face new challenges involving the colonization of these afforestation landscapes. On this basis, we investigated whether these human-made habitats could be a suitable habitat for Neotropical otter. We analyze habitat use and selection by this species at two scales of perception (micro- and macrohabitat) and in two contrasting seasons (winter and summer). Our results show that drainage channels within the afforestation landscape provides suitable conditions for this species during winter. The most important variables at macrohabitat level (dissolved oxygen, pH, and electric conductivity) and seasonally (temperature and pH) appeared to be related to prey availability in the watercourse stretches. At microhabitat level, the primary factor for distinguishing between used and available sites was soil hardness, possibly related to favorable edaphic conditions for digging burrows. Therefore, the survival of this species in the area will depend on the afforestation management, mainly those actions that decreases dissolved oxygen levels of waters and increases soil hardness of banks. Under the current wetland loss scenario in the region, afforestation systems may represent important sites for the conservation of this species.