Abstract
Diet, habitat use and relative abundance of pampas fox Pseudalopex gymnocercus were studied in grassland, sand dune, and scrubland habitats, on the Bahía San Blas and Isla Gama Reserve, Argentina. Scat contents showed a generalist diet, where mammals, insects, and fruits were the main food items. Dietary composition differed among habitats; fruits were mainly consumed in sand dunes; insects, mammals, and fruits predominated in grassland; while insects and mammals were frequent in scrubland habitat. The European hare was the most common vertebrate prey and had the major contribution to the biomass of consumed prey. Pampas fox was the most common carnivore of the reserve and used all available habitats, frequenting more regularly scrubland and sand dune than grassland habitat.
Zusammenfassung
Die Nahrung, Habitatnutzung und relative Abundanz von Pampasfüchsen Pseudalopex gymnocercus wurde auf Grasflächen, Sanddünen und in Strauchhabitaten des Bahía San Blas and Isla Gama Reserve, Argentinien untersucht. Die Analyse von Kotproben ergab eine typische Diät für Generalisten, wobei Säugetiere, Insekten und Früchte die wichtigsten Nahrungsbestandteile waren. Die Nahrungszusammensetzung unterschied sich zwischen verschiedenen Lebensräumen. Früchte wurden hauptsächlich in Sanddünen konsumiert, Insekten, Säugetiere und Früchte auf Grasflächen; und Insekten und Säugetiere in Strauchhabitaten. Der europäische Hase war die häufigste Beuteart unter den Wirbeltieren und stellte den Hauptanteil an der Biomasse genutzter Beute. Der Pampasfuchs ist das häufigste Raubtier im Reservat und nutzt alle vorhandenen Habitate, jedoch kommt er etwas häufiger in Strauchhabitaten und Sanddünen vor als auf Grasflächen.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alderton, D. (1998): Foxes Wolves and Wild Dogs of the World. Blandford: London.
Bellocq, M. I. (1988): Dieta de Athene cunicularia (Aves, Strigidae) y sus variaciones estacionales en ecosistemas agrarios de La Pampa, Argentina. Physis 46, 17–22.
Bó, M. S.; Cicchino, S. M.; Martí nez, M. M. (1996): Diet of long-winged Harrier (Circus buffoni) in Southeastern Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. J. Raptor Res. 30, 239–273.
Brillhart, D. E.; Kaufman, D. W. (1995): Spatial and seasonal variation in prey use by coyotes in north-central Kansas. Southwest. Nat. 40, 160–166.
Brooks, D. M. (1992): Notes on group size, density, and habitat association on the pampas fox (Dusicyon gimnocercus) in the Paraguayan Chaco. Mammalia56, 314–316.
Busch, M. (1986): Identificación de algunas especies de pequenos mamíferos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires mediante características de sus pelos. Physis 44, 113–118.
Chehébar, C.; Martín, S. (1989): Guía para el reconocimiento microscopico de los pelos de los mamíferos de la Patagonia. Acta Vertebr. 16, 247–291.
Choquenot, D.; Lukins, B.; Curran, G. (1997): Assessing lamb predation by feral pigs in Australia’s semiarid rangelands. J. Appl. Ecol. 37, 935–943.
Clevenger, A. P.; Purroy, F. J.; Pelton, M. R. (1992): Brown bear (Ursus arctos L.) habitat use in the Cantabrian mountains, Spain. Mammalia 56, 203–214.
Crespo, J. (1971): Ecología del zorro gris (Dusicyon gymnocercus antiquus), en la Provincia de La Pampa. Rev. Mus. Argent. Cienc. Nat. Bernardino Rivadavia (Ecol) 1, 147–205.
Doncaster, C. P.; Dickman, C. R.; MacDonald, D. W. (1990): Feeding ecology of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in the city of Oxford, England. J. Mammalogy 71, 188–194.
Efron, B. (1982): The Jackknife, the Bootstrap and other Resampling Plans. PA, Pennsylvania: Soc. Ind. App. Math.
Facure, K. G.; Giaretta, A. A.; Monteiro-Filho, E. L. A. (2003): Food habits of the crabeating fox Cerdocyon thous in an altitudinal forest of the Mantiqueira Range, southeastern Brazil. Mammalia 67, 503–511.
Farías, A. A.; Kittlein, M. J. (2005): Cross-scale spatial variability in the diet of pampas foxes (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) associated to human-induced changes in prey base. Austral. Ecol. (in press).
Hemmington, M. (1997): Foxwatching: In the Shadow of the Fox. Whittet Books Ltd: London.
Henry, J. D. (1977): The use of urine marking in the scavenging behaviour of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Behaviour 61, 82–105.
Herrero, J.; Fernández de Luco, D. (2003): Wild boars (Sus scrofa) L in Uruguay: scavengers or predators? Mammalia 67, 485–491.
Jácomo, A. T. A.; Silveira, L.; Diniz-Filho, J. A. F. (2004): Niche separation between the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) and the crabeating fox (Dusicyon thous) and the hoary fox (Dusicyon vetulus) in central Brazil. J Zool (London) 262, 99–106.
Jackson, J. E.; Branch, L. C.; Villarreal, D. (1996): Lagostomus maximus. Mamm. Species 543, 1–6.
Jimenez, J. E.; Yanez, J. L.; Tabilo, E. L.; Jaksic, F. M. (1996): Niche complementarity of South American foxes: reanalysis and test of a hypothesis. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 69, 113–123.
Johnson, W. E.; Franklin, W. L. (1994): Role of body size in the diets of sympatric gray and culpeo foxes. J. Mammalogy 75, 163–174.
Juarez, K. M.; Marinho-Filho, J. (2002): Diet, habitat use, and home ranges of sympatric canids in central Brazil. J. Mammalogy 83, 925–933.
Marquez, A.; Farina, R. A. (2003): Dental morphology and diet in canids and procyonids from Uruguay. Mammalia 67, 567–573.
Martínez, D. R.; Figueroa, R. A.; Ocampo, C. L.; Jaksic, F. M. (1998): Food habits and hunting ranges of short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) in agricultural landscapes of southern Chile. J. Raptor Res. 32, 111–115.
Medel, R.; Jaksic, F. M. (1988): Ecología de los cánidos sudamericanos: una revisión. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 61, 67–79.
Novaro, A. J.; Funes, M. C.; Walker, R. S. (2000): Ecological extinction of native prey of a carnivore assemblage in Argentine Patagonia. Biol. Conserv. 92, 25–33.
Nowak, R. M. (1997): Walker’s Mammals of the World. John Hopkins University Press.
Redford, K. H.; Eisenberg, J. F. (1992): Mammals of the Neotropics. Vol. 2. The Southern Cone. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Rice, W. R. (1989): Analyzing tables of statistical tests. Evolution 43, 223–225.
Soriano, A. (1983): Deserts and semideserts of Patagonia. In: Ecosystems of the World: temperate deserts and semideserts, Vol. 5, Ed. by N. E. West. Amsterdam: Elsevier Scientific Pub. Comp., Pp. 423–460.
Zar, J. H. (1984): Biostatistical Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
García, V.B., Kittlein, M.J. Diet, habitat use, and relative abundance of pampas fox (Pseudalopex gymnocercus) in northern Patagonia, Argentina. Mamm Biol 70, 218–226 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2004.11.019
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2004.11.019