Abstract

MERINO, Mariano L.; SEMENIUK, María B.; OLOCCO DIZ, María J.  and  MEIER, Diego. Use of a soy crop by pampas deer, Ozotoceros bezoarticus (Linnaeus, 1758) in San Luis Province, Argentina. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2009, vol.16, n.2, pp.347-354. ISSN 0327-9383.

The largest Argentine population of Ozotoceros bezoarticus inhabits the semiarid grasslands of south-central San Luis province, a region that has been subject to changes in land use due to cattle ranching and the advance of the agricultural frontier since 1990. We evaluated the use of soybean crop fields by Ozotoceros bezoarticus, by conducting monthly drive counts from June 2006 to August 2007. We also estimated the nutritional quality of soybean and adjacent grasslands. Pampas deer positively selected the soy fields during May-September, coinciding with the winter dormancy period of grasslands suffering hydric stress. This preference could be due to the high percentage of raw protein in this crop compared to neighboring grasslands. Feeding was the predominant activity of deer within the soy fields (81.9%). Small patches of soy cultures would be beneficial for this O. bezoarticus population, by providing a high-protein patch during winter. The possibility of maintaining viable populations in productive fields opens an important way toward their conservation, even in a landscape that includes cultivated lands and size-restricted areas within a matrix of natural and exotic grasslands.

Keywords : Cervidae; Conservation; Farming; Habitat use; Soybean.

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