TY - JOUR
T1 - Diet and habitat use by two sympatric canids in the pampas of South America
AU - Porto, Lucas M.V.
AU - Rui, Ana M.
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank E. Zefa, J. E. F. Dornelles and C. J. Drehmer for their help in the identification of animal remains. We thank R. L?dtke for her help in the identification of plant items and for helping us find references. We thank the two anonymous reviewers who helped to improve this work. We also thank F. D. Kober and L. Nunes for their help during field work. We thank EMBRAPA Clima Temperado for authorizing the study in the area and finally, we would like to thank FAPERGS for the scholarship given to L. M. V. Porto during this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© Porto & Rui.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - The crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) and the Pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) are two canids with very similar food and habitat requirements, which live in sympatry across parts of their distributions. Here we describe the diet and habitat use of both canids in the Pampas biome. The study took place in southern Brazil from December 2012 to December 2013. Diet and habitat use analyses were based on fecal samples, footprints and direct visualizations. Diet overlap was measured using Pianka’s index, while habitat use was measured using presence records from three different environments; forests, edges and open areas. Both canids feed on invertebrates and vertebrates but have preferences for fruits, especially Syagrus romanzoffiana. Pianka’s index showed a high overlap of their diets throughout the year, with the exception of autumn. Regarding habitat use, C. thous preferred to inhabit forested areas while L. gymnocercus was more active in open areas. Our results showed that fruits were the most consumed food item in the Pampas biome. Our findings suggest that habitat use by these two canids is affected by seasonal variation in fruit abundance, but other factors, such as parental care, should be taken into account when explaining how they behave throughout the year.
AB - The crab-eating fox (Cerdocyon thous) and the Pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) are two canids with very similar food and habitat requirements, which live in sympatry across parts of their distributions. Here we describe the diet and habitat use of both canids in the Pampas biome. The study took place in southern Brazil from December 2012 to December 2013. Diet and habitat use analyses were based on fecal samples, footprints and direct visualizations. Diet overlap was measured using Pianka’s index, while habitat use was measured using presence records from three different environments; forests, edges and open areas. Both canids feed on invertebrates and vertebrates but have preferences for fruits, especially Syagrus romanzoffiana. Pianka’s index showed a high overlap of their diets throughout the year, with the exception of autumn. Regarding habitat use, C. thous preferred to inhabit forested areas while L. gymnocercus was more active in open areas. Our results showed that fruits were the most consumed food item in the Pampas biome. Our findings suggest that habitat use by these two canids is affected by seasonal variation in fruit abundance, but other factors, such as parental care, should be taken into account when explaining how they behave throughout the year.
KW - Canidae
KW - Cerdocyon thous
KW - Feeding habits
KW - Foxes
KW - Fruit consumption
KW - Lycalopex gymnocercus
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85073451424
U2 - 10.3897/neotropical.14.e34828
DO - 10.3897/neotropical.14.e34828
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85073451424
SN - 1809-9939
VL - 14
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Neotropical Biology and Conservation
JF - Neotropical Biology and Conservation
IS - 1
ER -