Padrões Espaço-Temporais de uma população de Felis silvestris catus habitando um fragmento urbano de Mata Atlântica

• Autor(a) principal: Costa, Islayni Brenda Dantas da
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Trabalho de conclusão de curso
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFRN
• Texto Completo: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/43315
• topic: Felis silvestris catus; Felis silvestris catus; Padrão de ocupação; Occupation pattern; Mata Atlântica; Atlantic Rainforest

The domestic cats (Felis silvestris catus) are seen as generalist and voratious hunters of the native fauna, whatever environment they are introduced. In order to evaluate the potential impact of this invasive species on a given environment, as important as to know who could be their target preys is to know the dimensions of their home ranges and understand which factors exert influence on their pattern of use inside that area. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the spatio-temporal pattern of one free-roaming Felis silvestris catus population inhabiting an urban fragment of Atlantic Rainforest. The research was carried out on a fragment of Atlantic Forest known as Mata dos Saguis, which measures about 1.5 ha and is located on the campus of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal, Brazil. The data collection was carried out over a year, from March 2017 to March 2018, being divided into two stages, the first one aiming to characterizing the population using records of individual morphological characteristics in spreadsheets and individual identification through photographs, once a week during dusk in the gathering area (around the place where supplementary feeding was offered). The second stage referring to the spatial dispersion of the individuals and was made through weekly perimeter rounds crossing all 10 m x 10 m quadrants within the Mata dos Saguis to register the location of all sighted cats and then construct a point map using the Software QGis. Our results suggest that the entry of new animals is the main factor determining the permanence of the population over time. The individuals are concentrated in the areas near the food supplementation points; they use a larger area of the Mata dos Saguis during the dry season and that males have areas of occupation larger than females, so males should therefore be the main targets in actions aimed at environmental protection.