IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Elbroch, L.M.; Wittmer, H.U. | |
| Puma spatial ecology in open habitats with aggregate prey | |
| 2012 Mammalian Biology (77): 384 | |
Solitary felids are commonly associated with structurally complex habitats, where their foraging success is attributed to stealth and remaining undetected by competitive scavengers. Research in North America suggests that pumas (_Puma concolor_), a wide-ranging species found throughout the Americas, conform to the general characteristics of solitary felids and avoid open grasslands with aggregating prey. Researchers hypothesize that pumas are limited to structurally complex habitats in North America because of pressures from other large, terrestrial competitors. We explored the spatial ecology of pumas in open habitat with aggregating prey in Chilean Patagonia, where pumas lack large, terrestrial competitors. We tracked 11 pumas over 30 months (intensive location data for 9 pumas with GPS collars for 9.33ñ5.66 months each) in an area where mixed steppe grasslands composed 53% of the study area and carried 98% of available prey biomass, to track resource use relative to availability, assess daily movements, quantify home ranges and calculate their density. As determined by location data and kill sites, Patagonia pumas were primarily associated with open habitats with high prey biomass, but at finer scales, preferentially selected for habitat with complex structure. On average, pumas traveled 13.42ñ2.50km per day. Estimated 95% fixed kernel home ranges averaged 98ñ31.8km2 for females and 211ñ138.8km2 for males, with high spatial overlap within and between the sexes. In a multivariate analysis, available prey biomass was the strongest predictor of variation in the size of an individual puma's home range. Finally, we determined a total puma density of 3.44 pumas/100km2, a significantly smaller estimate than previously reported for Patagonia, but similar to densities reported for North America. |
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