Abstract

TABENI, Solana; SPIRITO, Florencia  and  MIGUEL, M. Florencia. Native mammals across grazing and restored woodlands: an overview of ecological connectivity in the central Monte Desert. Mastozool. neotrop. [online]. 2017, vol.24, n.2, pp.301-312. ISSN 0327-9383.

The semi-arid regions of Argentina have been subject to numerous human activities such as grazing by domestic animals. These activities bring about changes in the spatial pattern of the landscape by altering a variety of ecological processes due to loss of natural habitats and reduction of native species diversity. In the central Monte Desert, the establishment of protected areas has been implemented as a strategy for the recovery of native woodland communities. In addition, to ensure woodland perpetuity and the maintenance of ecological functions it is required to incorporate new approaches that include woodland connectivity with the surrounding landscape. The response of small and medium-sized mammals to boundaries highlights the need to consider the species-specific response in the selection of resources, the use of space and scales of observation fitted for the species. We focused on the socio-political boundaries between land uses to illustrate the changes in structural connectivity and their impact on functional connectivity through seed dispersal by mammals. Overall, understanding how differently managed lands are structurally and functionally connected may help us to design better management strategies aimed at biodiversity conservation, with focus both on species and the ecological processes they are involved in.

Keywords : Boundaries; Prosopis flexuosa; Protected areas; Rodents; Seed dispersal.

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