Version 1
: Received: 29 January 2022 / Approved: 7 February 2022 / Online: 7 February 2022 (15:10:29 CET)
How to cite:
Torre, I.; Pulido, T.; Vilella, M.; Díaz, M. Mesocarnivore distribution along gradients of anthropogenic disturbance in Mediterranean landscapes. Preprints2022, 2022020092. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0092.v1
Torre, I.; Pulido, T.; Vilella, M.; Díaz, M. Mesocarnivore distribution along gradients of anthropogenic disturbance in Mediterranean landscapes. Preprints 2022, 2022020092. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0092.v1
Torre, I.; Pulido, T.; Vilella, M.; Díaz, M. Mesocarnivore distribution along gradients of anthropogenic disturbance in Mediterranean landscapes. Preprints2022, 2022020092. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0092.v1
APA Style
Torre, I., Pulido, T., Vilella, M., & Díaz, M. (2022). Mesocarnivore distribution along gradients of anthropogenic disturbance in Mediterranean landscapes. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0092.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Torre, I., Marc Vilella and Mario Díaz. 2022 "Mesocarnivore distribution along gradients of anthropogenic disturbance in Mediterranean landscapes" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202202.0092.v1
Abstract
Wildfires are important sources of landscape change in Mediterranean environments, creating large patches of natural habitats (i.e., scrublands) inside protected areas, whereas woodland patches remained at the border in the vicinity of human settlements. Landscape patterns resulting from these gradients influence habitat suitability for mesocarnivores regarding food and shelter. In winter and summer 2019, we sampled 16 independent line-transects of four camera traps each (for a total of 64 cameras), covering the main habitats of the study area (woodlands, scrublands, and crops). Cameras were baited to compensate for low detectability of target species, and mesocarnivore contacts were analyzed by means of GLMMs and occupancy models. We hypothesized that Mediterranean mesocarnivores were constrained by two opposing forces, pushing them living in semi-natural but highly fragmented and heterogeneous landscapes created by humans, or living in natural but less suitable and continuous habitats created by fire regimes. In the former case, mesocarnivores will find protection against predators and resting sites in forests, as well as improved food opportunities in crops and urban areas, despite the possible interference with humans and their pets. Potential cascading effects linked to ecological roles of Mediterranean mesocarnivores on the succession of Mediterranean landscapes would imply longer-term effects of human disturbance on landscape trends.
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
