Abstract Although important to guide conservation management, detailed demographic studies on rare or elusive species inhabiting fragmented, human-dominated landscapes are often hampered by the species' low densities, and the logistic and ethical constraints in obtaining reliable information covering large areas. Genetic non-invasive sampling (gNIS) provides cost-effective access to demographic information, though its application to small mammals is still scarce. We used gNIS to infer on the demography of an endemic small mammal, the Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae), occurring as a spatially-structured population in a 462-ha Mediterranean farmland landscape. We intensively sampled fresh vole feces in four seasons, extracted the DNA, and performed individual identification based on genotypes built using nine microsatellites. We then estimated population size and individual survival relative to environmental variables, controlling for heterogeneity in capture probabilities using capture-mark-recapture modelling. Population size increased during the wet season and decreased during the dry season, while survival remained constant across the study period. Individuals captured along road-verges and around water-bodies survived longer than those captured near agricultural fields. The use of gNIS on a heterogeneous landscape such as our study area allowed us to demonstrate that human land-use activities affect Cabrera vole demographic parameters in Mediterranean farmland, with implications for conservation planning towards its long-term persistence. Our approach can be widely applied to other elusive small mammals of conservation concern, but for which informative demographic data are still scarce.

中文翻译：

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受保护的小型哺乳动物的生存驱动因素：在破碎的农田中使用广泛的遗传非侵入性采样进行的评估

摘要 尽管对指导保护管理很重要，但对栖息在支离破碎、以人类为主的景观中的稀有或难以捉摸的物种的详细人口统计研究往往受到物种密度低以及在获得覆盖大面积的可靠信息方面的物流和伦理限制的阻碍。遗传非侵入性采样 (gNIS) 提供了经济高效的人口统计信息访问，尽管它在小型哺乳动物中的应用仍然很少。我们使用 gNIS 来推断一种地方性小型哺乳动物 Cabrera vole (Microtus cabrerae) 的人口统计学，它是 462 公顷地中海农田景观中的空间结构种群。我们在四个季节集中采集新鲜田鼠粪便，提取 DNA，并基于使用九个微卫星构建的基因型进行个体识别。然后，我们估计了相对于环境变量的种群规模和个体存活率，使用捕获-标记-重新捕获模型控制捕获概率的异质性。人口规模在雨季增加，在旱季减少，而在整个研究期间存活率保持不变。沿路缘和水体周围捕获的个体比在农田附近捕获的个体存活时间更长。在我们的研究区等异质景观上使用 gNIS 使我们能够证明人类土地利用活动影响地中海农田的田鼠人口参数，对其长期持续性的保护规划产生影响。我们的方法可以广泛应用于其他难以捉摸的保护关注的小型哺乳动物，