Determinants of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) occupancy patterns in Eucalyptus dominated landscapes

• Autor(a) principal: Castro, Guilherme Viana de
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10773/27924
• topic: Production forests; Eucalyptus; Carnivore mammals; Red fox; Occupancy patterns; Camera trapping

The transition of natural areas to forestry plantations is a growing worldwide phenomenon with direct consequences to biodiversity and entire ecosystems by changing forest’s composition and structure. Production plantations are often composed by fast-growing exotic species, aiming economic profit, often at the expense of well-suited habitats for wildlife and ecosystems’ functionality. In the Mediterranean region, production forests composed by Eucalyptus spp. are widely distributed, forming monospecific landscapes with impactful changes in many taxa and altering important ecological dynamics. Given the extension of these production forests, it is important to understand how and in what extent this forest transition influences the ecological dynamics of native biodiversity. In this study, and based on camera trapping data, we evaluate the influence of Eucalyptus globulus production forests in the occupancy patterns of mesocarnivores, using as species-model the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in Central Portugal region. Based on a single-season analysis, best-fitted model for red fox detection probability shows a negative influence of tree cover. The occupancy analysis revealed a positive influence of tree cover in red fox occupancy, showing a preference this canid for well-developed forests with a mature tree cover. Also, natural and semi-natural forests showed higher red fox occupancy in comparison with Eucalyptus production forests. The results of this study unravel relevant insights on the influence of production forests in red fox ecology and thus, may contribute to more integrative measures aiming mesocarnivores conservancy in forestry plantations, in the line with a sustainable exploitation of these plantations.