Effects of free-ranging livestock on occurrence and interspecific interactions of a mammalian community.

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State: Public
Version: author
License: CC BY 4.0
Serval ID
serval:BIB_6BD98A54CB0F
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Effects of free-ranging livestock on occurrence and interspecific interactions of a mammalian community.
Journal
Ecological applications
Author(s)
Salvatori M., Oberosler V., Augugliaro C., Krofel M., Rovero F.
ISSN
1051-0761 (Print)
ISSN-L
1051-0761
Publication state
Published
Issued date
10/2022
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
32
Number
7
Pages
e2644
Language
english
Notes
Publication types: Journal Article
Publication Status: ppublish
Abstract
Mammalian communities inhabiting temperate grasslands are of conservation concern globally, especially in Central Asia, where livestock numbers have dramatically increased in recent decades, leading to overgrazing and land-use change. Yet, how this pervasive presence of livestock herds affects the community of wild mammals remains largely unstudied. We used systematic camera trapping at 216 sites across remote, mountainous areas of the Mongolian Altai Mountains to assess the spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence and the interspecific relationships within a mammalian community that includes different categories of livestock. By adopting a recently proposed multispecies occupancy model that incorporates interspecific correlation in occupancy, we found several statistically strong correlations in occupancy among species pairs, with the majority involving livestock. The sign of such associations was markedly species-dependent, with larger wild species of conservation concern, namely, snow leopard and Siberian ibex, avoiding livestock presence. As predicted, we found evidence of a positive correlation in occupancy between predators and their respective main prey. Contrary to our expectations, a number of intraguild species pairs also showed positive co-occurrence, with no evidence of spatiotemporal niche partitioning. Overall, our study suggests that livestock encroaching into protected areas influences the whole local community of wild mammals. Though pastoralism has coexisted with wildlife for millennia in central Asian grasslands, our findings suggest that policies and practices to decrease the pressure of livestock husbandry on wildlife are needed, with special attention on large species, such as the snow leopard and its wild prey, which seem to be particularly sensitive to this pervasive livestock presence.
Keywords
Animals, Animals, Wild, Conservation of Natural Resources, Livestock, Panthera, activity pattern, community occupancy, grassland, interspecific interactions, livestock encroachment, snow leopard
Pubmed
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
02/05/2022 13:39
Last modification date
21/11/2022 9:28
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