A comparison between vegetation and diet records from the wet and dry season in the cottontail rabbitSylvilagus floridanus at Ixtacuixtla, central Mexico

Abstract

Gómez M. 2005. A comparison between vegetation and diet records from the wet and dry season in the cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus floridanus at Ixtacuixtla, central Mexico. Acta Theriologica 50: 377-389.Mexico has eight endemic lagomorph species, several of which are endangered. For conservation reasons it is necessary to know more about their diet. In a first step we applied the method of fecal pellet analysis to the cottontail Sylvilagus floridanus (Allen, 1890). Since it is common in Mexico, information on its diet should provide a useful baseline with which to compare the diets of other Mexican lagomorphs. At Ixtacuixtla, we recorded vegetation and analyzed fecal pellet content once in August (wet season) and once in March (dry season) at 4 sampling sites representing different habitat types. The comparison of vegetation and diet records suggested S. floridanus to occupy the same dietary niche in the different habitats. Measures of niche breadth showed S. floridanus to be neither a generalist nor a specialist. Nevertheless, it appeared to be quite selective in consuming particular herb and grass species even when they became scarce during the dry season. Since the vegetation record only poorly represented the rabbits' diet, a more focused approach is suggested for future studies: first, to identify the relevant food species in the diet, second, to obtain data on the availability of these, and third, to concentrate on time points when changes in resource state could be a limiting factor.

Can Ecological Interactions be Inferred from Spatial Data?

“…For the purposes of illustration, an example where we will apply the above framework is that of the relations between climate, vegetation, herbivore and carnivore. In particular, below ("Some representative results"), we will consider as a specific example of a causal chain: Lynx rufus as a carnivore; Sylvilagus floridanus as a known, important prey of the L. rufus; Microchloa kunthii as a known, important food source of Sylvilagus floridanus (Hudson, 2005); and, finally, climate as a known, important factor in the presence and abundance of the plant species. By the nature of this causal chain, we are led to hypothesise that the presence/no presence of Sylvilagus floridanus is more important to the presence of Lynx rufus than the presence/no presence of Microchloa kunthii, which in turn is more important than the presence/no presence of a particular climatic configuration.…”

Periodo reproductivo del conejo castellano, Sylvilagus floridanus, en un campo de lava de la Ciudad de México a través del análisis de la variación estacional de la abundancia y el tamaño de sus heces

“…El comportamiento reproductivo del conejo se relaciona bien con la disponibilidad de alimento, ya que los meses de agosto, septiembre y octubre es cuando se registra una mayor cantidad de biomasa de plantas herbáceas ( fig. 3; Cano-Santana, 1994b), las cuales aportan 75.2% de la dieta de para la especie y éstos son los meses donde los conejos pasan por los periodos más susceptibles del ciclo de vida: gestación, lactancia y las primeras semanas de vida de los gazapos (Hudson et al, 2005) (fig. 3).…”

“…Se distribuye en bosques tropicales, bosques templados, matorrales xerófilos y áreas perturbadas por la agricultura y actividades humanas, en altitudes desde 0 hasta los 3,200 m (Lorenzo y Cervantes, 2005). Se alimenta de una gran variedad de plantas y de prácticamente todas sus estructuras, que incluye hojas, tallos, raíces y frutos (Chapman et al, 1980;Hudson et al, 2005). Este animal constituye una presa para muchos carnívoros de medianos a grandes, como los zorros, coyotes, perros y aves rapaces (Chapman et al, 1980;Granados-Pérez, 2008;Lorenzo y Cervantes, 2005).…”

Association of Juniperus deppeana (Cupressaceae: Pinales) seeds with Mexican cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus cunicularius; Leporidae: Lagomorpha) latrines

“…It is a 10 ha fragment of an original J. deppeana forest within a grassland dominated by Muhlenbergia implicata (Kunth) Trinius, Stipa ichu (Ruiz and Pavón) Kunth, Aristida schiedeana Trinius and Ruprecht (Poaceae), and Rhus standleyi F.A. Barkley (Anacardiaceae) (Hudson et al 2005). This fragment is surrounded by corn fields and forested fragments where Eucalyptus globulus Labillardière was introduced in 1980.…”