Assessing rodent community responses in disturbed environments of the Chilean Patagonia

作者：Garcia Karla P^*; Ortiz Zapata Juan Carlos; Aguayo Mauricio; D' Elia Guillermo

来源：Mammalia, 2013, 77(2): 195-204.

DOI：10.1515/mammalia-2011-0134

• Chilean Patagonia
• community parameters
• land use
• perturbation
• Sigmodontinae

The effects of a perturbation gradient on a Patagonian rodent community were assessed over the course of a year by comparing the community parameters in natural and different disturbed environments in the central Chilean Patagonia. The studied habitat types were mature forest, second-growth forest, forest plantations, and agricultural grassland. We recorded eight species of sigmodontine rodents (Abrothrix longipilis, Abrothrix olivaceus, Chelemys macronyx, Geoxus valdivianus, Irenomys tarsalis, Loxodontomys micropus, Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, and Reithrodon auritus). Most species experience an increment in abundance from summer to autumn, with a notable decrease in winter and spring. The grassland showed lower species abundance than the mature forest. However, we did not detect significant differences in diversity, evenness, or species richness among the forest habitats. Our results suggest that rodents basically distinguish between forested and open areas, but not the specific plant composition of each habitat. Thus, the change in land use in the central Chilean Patagonia has not significantly affected the community parameters of diversity, evenness, or species richness.

• 出版日期2013-5