Seasonal Food Habits of Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) in Cropland and Rangeland Landscapes in Western Kansas

Sovada, Marsha A.; Roy, Christiane C.; Telesco, David J.

doi:10.1674/0003-0031(2001)145[0101:sfhosf]2.0.co;2

Cited by 57 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Fedriani et al 2001;Sovada et al 2001;Rau & Jiménez 2002;Pia et al 2003;Farias & Kittlein 2008). In the sclerophyllous shrubland of central Chile, human disturbance may favor the European rabbit and adversely affect native small mammals (Pavéz et al 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduced European rabbit as main prey of the native carnivore culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in disturbed ecosystems of central Chile

Rubio

Alvarado

Bonacic

2013

Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment

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This study describes food habits of the culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) by scat analysis in two hills considered Priority Conservation Sites of the Mediterranean Region of central Chile, one of the most disturbed and modified ecosystems in the country. The results showed that foxes from both sites consume the introduced European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) as primary prey and native small mammals as secondary prey. This is the first record of feeding habits of the culpeo fox in central Chile that reports a higher consumption of European rabbit over pooled native small mammals. The reason for this result, as well as the higher trophic niche breadth and trophic niche diversity found in culpeo fox populations from the less disturbed hill, might be due to anthropogenic impacts on the study sites. However, to validate this claim, further studies on prey availability and human impact are required. The culpeo fox can have an important role in controlling pests such as the European rabbit; therefore, a more extensive study of this issue can bring important information for the conservation and management of natural areas of central Chile that show high human impact. Este estudio describe los hábitos alimentarios del zorro culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus) en dos cerros considerados "Sitios Prioritarios de Conservación" de la eco-región mediterránea de Chile central, el cual es una de las zonas más intervenidas y modificadas del país. Los resultados encontrados muestran que los zorros de ambos cerros consumen como presa primaria al conejo europeo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) y a los pequeños mamíferos nativos como presa secundaria. Este es el primer registro de la dieta del zorro culpeo en Chile central que reporta un mayor consumo de conejo europeo por sobre el consumo de pequeños mamíferos nativos en su conjunto. La razón de este resultado, además de la mayor amplitud y diversidad de nicho trófico encontrado en la población de zorro culpeo en el cerro menos intervenido, podría deberse al impacto antropogénico en los sitios de estudios. Sin embargo, para validar esta afirmación se necesitan estudios sobre disponibilidad de presas e impacto humano. El zorro culpeo puede tener un papel importante en el control de plagas como el conejo europeo, por lo cual se requiere un estudio más acabado de esta temática, lo cual puede brindar información importante para la conservación y manejo de áreas naturales de Chile central que presenten un alto impacto antropogénico.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduced European rabbit as main prey of the native carnivore culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in disturbed ecosystems of central Chile

Rubio

Alvarado

Bonacic

2013

Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment

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“…In addition, a comparatively minor number of studies have shown that habitat patchiness and smallscale heterogeneity in prey distribution could also cause dietary distinction within populations (Angerbjo¨rn et al 1994;Brillhart and Kaufman 1995;Lovari et al 1996;Sovada et al 2001;Pia et al 2003). For most canid species there is no knowledge about small-scale variability in feeding habits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small‐scale spatial variability in the diet of pampas foxes (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) and human‐induced changes in prey base

Farías

Kittlein

2007

Ecological Research

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Predators display functional responses to variation in prey availability that result in dietary distinction at different spatial scales. Such differentiation can be enhanced when human-induced changes in land use increase spatial heterogeneity in prey availability. This has been recorded for canids, but available information is skewed to regional scales. Further, though human activities have strongly altered neotropical biomes, knowledge about small-scale dietary differentiation of canids come mainly from holartic species. Thus, we quantified variability in the diet of a ubiquitous South American canid species (i.e., the pampas fox, Pseudalopex gymnocercus) over a relatively small area of grasslands in Argentina, comparing its diet at three close sampling sites varying in human disturbance. We found that small-scale dietary differentiation was influenced by human-induced habitat modifications, both directly by local subsidizing of introduced prey (e.g., livestock carrion and hares) and indirectly by altering the availability of native prey. Overall, pampas foxes seemed to be highly flexible in their trophic ecology, being able to cope with marked habitat alterations and likely benefiting from food cross-subsidizing from agricultural landscape to protected grassland relicts. This has implications for management and conservation purposes, and highlights the importance of quantifying variability in foraging behavior of carnivores over small spatial scales.

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“…To quantify and compare diet between species, I determined the frequency of occurrence of food items by calculating the percent of scats containing each food item (Kitchen et al 1999, Sovada et al 2001. Chi-square with Fisher's exact tests served to compare frequency of occurrence of food items between predator species.…”

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confidence: 99%

Food Habits and Livestock Depredation of Sympatric Jaguars and Pumas in the Iguaçu National Park Area, South Brazil

Azevedo

2008

Biotropica

100

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Understanding coexistence between sympatric felines with similar body sizes, such as jaguars Panthera onca and pumas Puma concolor, requires knowledge of the way these predators consume and partition food resources. Yet the importance of livestock predation on jaguar and puma coexistence is poorly known. I investigated food habits and patterns of livestock depredation of jaguar and pumas in the Iguaçu National Park (INP) in southern Brazil. From 1997 to 2001, I collected scats opportunistically on trails and roads in INP and visited ranches on the border of INP. I found that jaguars relied mostly on large and medium‐sized wild prey species, while pumas concentrated on medium‐sized prey species. Livestock was the fifth most frequent prey found in jaguar scats but the most important one in terms of biomass consumed. Jaguar and puma diets differed significantly when all prey items were compared and also when livestock was excluded from the jaguar diet. Jaguar predation on livestock was considerably higher than predation by pumas. However, predation was not substantial relative to availability of livestock, and cattle likely constitute an alternative source of prey for jaguars. Degree of diet overlap between jaguar and puma in INP suggests that coexistence was likely driven by exploitative competition through some degree of food partitioning. My results highlight the importance of more actions toward increasing numbers of large ungulates to preserve the population of jaguars in INP.

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Seasonal Food Habits of Swift Fox (Vulpes velox) in Cropland and Rangeland Landscapes in Western Kansas

Cited by 57 publications

References 16 publications

Introduced European rabbit as main prey of the native carnivore culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in disturbed ecosystems of central Chile

Introduced European rabbit as main prey of the native carnivore culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in disturbed ecosystems of central Chile

Small‐scale spatial variability in the diet of pampas foxes (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) and human‐induced changes in prey base

Food Habits and Livestock Depredation of Sympatric Jaguars and Pumas in the Iguaçu National Park Area, South Brazil

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