TY - JOUR
T1 - Regional-scale variation on Dromiciops gliroides occurrence, abundance, and activity patterns along a habitat disturbance gradient
AU - Rodríguez-Gómez, Gloria B.
AU - FONTURBEL RADA, FRANCISCO ENRIQUE
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Mammalogists, www.mammalogy.org.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/5/22
Y1 - 2020/5/22
N2 - Habitat structure may have a significant influence on the occurrence, abundance, and activity patterns of forest mammals. However, anthropogenic habitat disturbance changes habitat structure, which may alter those patterns of activity. We assessed occurrence, relative abundance, and activity patterns of Dromiciops gliroides, an arboreal marsupial endemic to the temperate rainforests of southern South America, contrasting four forest conditions at a regional scale: Old-growth, second-growth, and logged forests, and abandoned exotic plantations. We conducted a camera-trap assessment in two consecutive austral summers across most of the Chilean range of D. gliroides, and compared habitat structure along a disturbance gradient. All structural features assessed differed among forest conditions. Dromiciops gliroides was present in all forest conditions, but its abundance decreased and activity got narrower as disturbance increased, being significantly lower in the exotic plantations. Activity patterns were variable among forest conditions and months, and were significantly more restricted temporally at exotic plantations. Although D. gliroides is tolerant to habitat disturbance, we show that structural alteration results in lower abundances and narrower activity patterns.
AB - Habitat structure may have a significant influence on the occurrence, abundance, and activity patterns of forest mammals. However, anthropogenic habitat disturbance changes habitat structure, which may alter those patterns of activity. We assessed occurrence, relative abundance, and activity patterns of Dromiciops gliroides, an arboreal marsupial endemic to the temperate rainforests of southern South America, contrasting four forest conditions at a regional scale: Old-growth, second-growth, and logged forests, and abandoned exotic plantations. We conducted a camera-trap assessment in two consecutive austral summers across most of the Chilean range of D. gliroides, and compared habitat structure along a disturbance gradient. All structural features assessed differed among forest conditions. Dromiciops gliroides was present in all forest conditions, but its abundance decreased and activity got narrower as disturbance increased, being significantly lower in the exotic plantations. Activity patterns were variable among forest conditions and months, and were significantly more restricted temporally at exotic plantations. Although D. gliroides is tolerant to habitat disturbance, we show that structural alteration results in lower abundances and narrower activity patterns.
KW - actividad nocturna
KW - canopy cover
KW - disturbance tolerance
KW - dosel arbóreo
KW - estructura del hábitat
KW - habitat structure
KW - nocturnal activity
KW - población
KW - population
KW - selective logging
KW - tala selectiva
KW - tolerancia a perturbación
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089898795&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/jmammal/gyaa022
DO - 10.1093/jmammal/gyaa022
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089898795
VL - 101
SP - 733
EP - 741
JO - Journal of Mammalogy
JF - Journal of Mammalogy
SN - 0022-2372
IS - 3
ER -