Wildlife associated with burrows of Dolichotis patagonum in central west Argentina

By

Gatica, Ailin
Ochoa, Ana Cecilia
Denkiewicz, Natalia Mariana
Mangione, Antonio Marcelo

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2020-9-25

Original Publication

Neotropical Biology and Conservation

Volume

15

Series / Issue

Issue: 3

Pages

399--407

Subjects

camera traps , ecosystem engineer , mara , Sierra de las Quijadas National Park

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Brazil Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.15.e54979

 

Abstract

Community structure is strongly influenced by positive interactions between species. Detecting and describing these interactions is essential in the study of communities. Dolichotis patagonum Zimmermann, 1780 (CN: mara) is a cavid rodent that builds burrows for breeding. In this study, camera traps were used to identify which species use the burrows built by maras in Sierra de las Quijadas National Park, San Luis, Argentina. All burrows were used by other species. A total of 68.7% of all medium- and small-sized taxa recorded in this study used the burrows. This is a clear indicator of the role of D. patagonum as an ecosystem engineer in this environment.