IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library
   

 

View printer friendly
de Oliveira, G.P.
Abundance and spatio-temporal distribution of mesopredators in the Caatinga of Piau¡
2016  Full Book

This work focuses ecological and biological aspects of three mesocarnivore species, ocelot, crab-eating fox and oncilla in the National Park of Serra da Capivara, located in the Caatinga of Piau¡ state. The first chapter addresses an estimate of abundance variation between two years of survey. Through analytical methods that do not require individual recognition, we detected that ocelot populations declined in numbers, while crab-eating fox abundance was stable. Oncilla abundances also declined. However, because of the large confidence interval of the analysis, it was not possible to verify if this reduction was real or just an artifact of the method. The second chapter addresses the temporal patterns of these species and their relationship to other predators and prey. All mesocarnivores were extremely nocturne animals. The overlap indexes identified a high degree of overlapping between all carnivore species, however, mesocarnivores seems to be adjusting their activity peaks to that of prey species. Lastly, the third chapter estimated occupancy patterns for these mesocarnivores and the effect of different variables on these occurrence probabilities. Ocelots had lower occupancy rates in places where jaguar had higher frequencies. However this mesopredators had a higher occupancy in regions where prey species were more frequent. Likewise, the crab-eating fox had a higher occupancy in the same places that prey species were more frequent. The oncilla appears to avoid the presence of domestic animals and dogs, indicating a higher sensibility to human induced interference. It seems that top-down effects are important for both felid species occupancy, while bottom-up factors - prey availability - is also a key factor for the ocelot and crab-eating foxes.

PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here

 

(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union)