ABSTRACT

The Chilean Mediterranean ecosystem is threatened by anthropogenic pressures, such as habitat loss by intensive agriculture and urban sprawl. Abandoned dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) and cats (Felis silvestris catus) pose conservation challenges for Chilean wildlife including the pampas cat (Leopardus colocolo) and the güiña (Leopardus guigna). We used camera trap data to investigate influences of natural and anthropogenic landscape features on spatiotemporal trends of these species. We also used co-occurrence modeling and kernel density estimation to investigate spatial and temporal patterns overlap of wildcats, free-ranging (FR) dogs, and FR-cats. FR-dogs showed the highest detection and site use probabilities, while güiñas had the lowest across 80 camera trap sites. Top models showed no spatial avoidance between species and co-occurrence of wildcats was positively influenced by forest habitat. However, FR-dogs negatively affected detection of wildcats. Ravines surrounded by forest positively influenced güiña and pampas cat detection probabilities when dominant species were not present. FR-dogs and wildcats had significantly different temporal activity patterns and low overlap coefficients, while wildcats and FR-cats showed high overlap in activity patterns. We suggest changing current policies to control domestic animals and strategic planning in agricultural areas of central Chile to better conserve native wildcat species.

摘要

智利地中海生态系统受到人为压力的威胁，例如集约化农业和城市扩张导致的栖息地丧失。被遗弃的狗 ( Canis lupus familiaris ) 和猫 ( Felis silvestris catus ) 对包括南美大草原猫 ( Leopardus colocolo ) 和 güiña ( Leopardus guigna)在内的智利野生动物构成保护挑战). 我们使用相机陷阱数据来调查自然和人为景观特征对这些物种的时空趋势的影响。我们还使用共现建模和核密度估计来研究野猫、自由放养 (FR) 狗和 FR-猫的空间和时间模式重叠。FR-dogs 显示出最高的检测和站点使用概率，而 güiñas 在 80 个相机陷阱站点中的概率最低。顶级模型显示物种之间没有空间回避，野猫的共同出现受到森林栖息地的积极影响。然而，FR-dogs 对野猫的检测产生了负面影响。当优势物种不存在时，被森林包围的沟壑对 güiña 和南美大草原猫的检测概率产生了积极影响。FR-dogs 和 wildcats 具有显着不同的时间活动模式和低重叠系数，而 wildcats 和 FR-cats 在活动模式方面表现出高度重叠。我们建议改变现行政策以控制智利中部农业区的家养动物和战略规划，以更好地保护本地野猫物种。