Abstract
In this study, we establish the seasonal variation of the Culpeo fox’s diet in a seasonal ecosystem of south-central Chile. By scat analyses, 21 prey taxa were identified, 16 were animal and five were plant species. Mammals (88.47%) were the main biomass contribution with small seasonal fluctuations. Plants contributed the most to the differences observed in all seasons since they showed very marked changes. We determined that the Culpeo fox inhabiting the Andes of south-central Chile feeds mainly on small non-native mammals all year round, and supplements its diet opportunistically from items whose abundance oscillates seasonally.
Funding source: Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico
Award Identifier / Grant number: 1170486
Acknowledgments
We thank MSc Tania Coronado and biologists M. Ignacia Concha, Natalia Monsalve, Juliett Erice and Jimena González for their help. Also, we appreciate the contribution made by two anonymous reviewers and the associate editor of Mammalia.
Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Researchfunding: The work was funded by FONDECYT 1170486.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
References
Bonino, N., Cossíos, D., and Menegheti, J. (2010). Dispersal of the European hare, Lepus europaeus in South America. Folia Zool. 59: 9–15. https://doi.org/10.25225/fozo.v59.i1.a3.2010.Search in Google Scholar
Buenavista, S. and Palomares, F. (2018). The role of exotic mammals in the diet of native carnivores from South America. Mamm. Rev. 48: 37–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/mam.12111.Search in Google Scholar
Calvete, C., Estrada, R., Angulo, E., and Cabezas-Ruiz, S. (2004). Habitat factors related to wild rabbit conservation in an agricultural landscape. Landsc. Ecol. 19: 531–542. https://doi.org/10.1023/b:land.0000036139.04466.06.10.1023/B:LAND.0000036139.04466.06Search in Google Scholar
Carlsson, N.O., Sarnelle, O., and Strayer, D.L. (2009). Native predators and exotic prey–an acquired taste? Front. Ecol. Environ. 7: 525–532. https://doi.org/10.1890/080093.Search in Google Scholar
Cid, K. and Loyola, C. (2017). Fragilidad del paisaje en San Fabián de Alico. Tiempo y Espacio 39: 51–71.Search in Google Scholar
Figueroa, R., Corales, S., Martínez, D., Figueroa, R., and González-Acuña, D. (2006). Diet of the Rufous-legged Owl (Strix rufipes, Strigiformes) in an Andean Nothofagus-Araucaria forest, Southern Chile. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 41: 179–182. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650520600630667.Search in Google Scholar
Fredes, C., Yousef, G., Robert, P., Grace, M., Lila, M., Gómez, M., Gebauer, M., and Montenegro, G. (2014). Anthocyanin profiling of wild maqui berries (Aristotelia chilensis [Mol.] Stuntz) from different geographical regions in Chile. J. Sci. Food Agric. 94: 2639–2648. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.6602.Search in Google Scholar
Fuentes, E.R. and Jaksic, F.M. (1979). Latitudinal size variation of Chilean foxes: tests of alternative hypotheses. Ecology 60: 43–47. https://doi.org/10.2307/1936466.Search in Google Scholar
González, L. and Murúa, R. (1985). Características del período reproductivo de tres especies de roedores cricétidos del bosque higrófilo templado. An. Mus. Hist. Nat. Valparaiso 16: 87–99.Search in Google Scholar
Guzmán-Sandoval, J., Sielfeld, W., and Ferrú, M. (2007). Diet of Lycalopex culpaeus (Mammalia: Canidae) in northernmost Chile (Tarapaca Region). Gayana 71: 1–7. https://doi.org/10.4067/s0717-65382007000100001.Search in Google Scholar
Hulbert, I.A., Iason, G.R., Elston, D.A., and Racey, P.A. (1996). Home-range sizes in a stratified upland landscape of two lagomorphs with different feeding strategies. J. Appl. Ecol. 33: 1479–1488. https://doi.org/10.2307/2404786.Search in Google Scholar
Ignazi, G.O., Barbar, F., Hiraldo, F., Donázar, J.A., Trejo, A., and Lambertucci, S.A. (2020). Potential functional and numerical response in a large sized raptor may be mediated by the abundance of an exotic lagomorph. J. King Saud Univ. Sci. 32: 2222–2228. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2020.02.030.Search in Google Scholar
Iriarte, A. and Jaksic, F.M. (2017). Los Carnívoros de Chile, 2nd ed. Chile: Ediciones Flora & Fauna Chile, p. 260.Search in Google Scholar
Jaksic, F.M. and Soriguer, R.C. (1981). Predation upon the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Mediterranean habitats of Chile and Spain: a comparative analysis. J. Anim. Ecol. 50: 269–281. https://doi.org/10.2307/4044.Search in Google Scholar
Jaksic, F.M., Iriarte, J.A., Jiménez, J.E., and Martínez, D.R. (2002). Invaders without frontiers: cross-border invasions of exotic mammals. Biol. Invasions 4: 157–173. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1020576709964.10.1023/A:1020576709964Search in Google Scholar
Jiménez, J.E. and Novaro, A.J. (2004). (Pseudalopex culpaeus). In: Sillero-Zubiri, C., Hoffmann, M., and Macdonald, D.W. (Eds.). Canids, foxes, wolves, jackals and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, United Kingdom, pp. 44–50.Search in Google Scholar
Klare, U., Kamler, J.F., and Macdonald, D.W. (2011). A comparison and critique of different scat-analysis methods for determining carnivore diet. Mamm. Rev. 41: 294–312. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00183.x.Search in Google Scholar
Krebs, C.J. (1989). Ecological methodology, 2nd ed. New York: Harper & Row, p. 678.Search in Google Scholar
Marti, C.D., Bechard, M., and Jaksic, F.M. (2007). Food habits. In: Bird, D.M., Bildstein, K.L., Barber, D.R., and Zimmerman, A. (Eds.). Raptor management techniques manual. Canada: Hancock House Publishers, pp. 129–152.Search in Google Scholar
Martínez, D.R., Rau, J., and Jaksic, F.M. (1993). Respuesta numérica y selectividad dietaria de zorros (Pseudalopex spp.) ante una reducción de sus presas en el norte de Chile. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 66: 195–202.Search in Google Scholar
Medel, R.G. and Jaksic, F.M. (1988). Ecología de los cánidos sudamericanos: una revisión. Rev. Chil. Hist. Nat. 61: 67–79.Search in Google Scholar
Meserve, P.L., Milstead, W.B., Gutiérrez, J.R., and Jaksic, F.M. (1999). The interplay of biotic and abiotic factors in a semiarid Chilean mammal assemblage: results of a long-term experiment. Oikos 85: 364–372. https://doi.org/10.2307/3546502.Search in Google Scholar
Molina, J.I. (1782). Saggio sulla storia naturale del Chili. Stamperia di S. Tommaso d’Aquino, Bologna, pp. 1–349.10.5962/bhl.title.62689Search in Google Scholar
Mooney, H.A. and Dunn, E.L. (1970). Photosynthetic systems of Mediterranean-climate shrubs and trees of California and Chile. Am. Nat. 104: 447–453. https://doi.org/10.1086/282679.Search in Google Scholar
Muñoz-Pedreros, A. (2008). Huellas y signos de mamíferos de Chile. CEA Ediciones, Chile, pp. 107.Search in Google Scholar
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittermeier, C.G., Da Fonseca, G., and Kent, J. (2000). Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853–858. https://doi.org/10.1038/35002501.Search in Google Scholar
Pearson, O. (1995). Annotated keys for identifying small mammals living in or near Nahuel Huapi National Park or Lanín National Park, Southern Argentina. Mastozool. Neotrop. 2: 99–148.Search in Google Scholar
Perea, R., Delibes, M., Polko, M., Suárez-Esteban, A., and Fedriani, J.M. (2013). Context‐dependent fruit–frugivore interactions: partner identities and spatio‐temporal variations. Oikos 122: 943–951. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0706.2012.20940.x.Search in Google Scholar
Quintanilla, V. (1983). Geografía de Chile. Biogeografía, tomo III. Instituto Geográfico Militar, Chile, p. 230.Search in Google Scholar
Reise, D. (1973). Clave para la determinación de los cráneos de marsupiales y roedores chilenos. Gayana Zool. 27: 1–20.Search in Google Scholar
Rubio, A.V., Alvarado, R., and Bonacic, C. (2013). Introduced European rabbit as main prey of the native carnivore culpeo fox (Lycalopex culpaeus) in disturbed ecosystems of central Chile. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 48: 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/01650521.2013.831521.Search in Google Scholar
Simonetti, J.A. (1986). Human-induced dietary shift in Dusicyon culpaeus. Mammalia 50: 406–408, https://doi.org/10.1515/mamm.1986.50.3.391.Search in Google Scholar
Smith, F.A., Lyons, S.K., Ernest, S.K.M., Jones, K.E., Kaufman, D.M., Dayan, T., Marquet, P.A., Brown, J.H., and Haskell, J.P. (2003). Body mass of late quaternary mammals: ecological archives E084-094. Ecology 84: 3403. https://doi.org/10.1890/02-9003.Search in Google Scholar
Usenik, V., Fabčič, J., and Štampar, F. (2008). Sugars, organic acids, phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.). Food Chem. 107: 185–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2007.08.004.Search in Google Scholar
Wilcoxon, F. (1992). Individual comparisons by ranking methods. In: Kotz, S. and Johnson, N.L. (Eds.). Breakthroughs in statistics. Springer series in statistics. (Perspectives in statistics). Springer, New York, NY, pp. 196–202.10.1007/978-1-4612-4380-9_16Search in Google Scholar
Zúñiga, A.H. and Fuenzalida, D.V. (2016). Dieta del zorro culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus Molina 1782) en un área protegida del sur de Chile. Mastozool. Neotrop. 23: 201–205.Search in Google Scholar
© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
