Habitat selection by Calomys musculinus (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) in crop areas of the pampean region, Argentina
Abstract
Calomys musculinus (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) is a small rodent species found in most central and northern Argentina. It is the reservoir of the Junin virus, ethiological agent of the Argentine Hemorrhagic Fever (FHA). In the present work we studied habitat selection by C. musculinus at different spatial scales in rural habitats where the landscape is mainly formed by cropfields, surrounded by weedy margins (borders). We found that C. musculinus selects borders over cropfields, but there were not differences between types of fields or types of borders. The structure of the spatial heterogeneity, which is mainly grouped between macrohabitats due to agrarian labors, did not allow to detect habitat selection, within cropfields and borders, for habitat patches larger than individual trap sites. Distribution between fields and borders was related to the green plant cover in early autumn, probably because of specific requirements of reproductive individuals. Within these habitats, we found differences in captures according to the presence of some plant species, which varied according to the season and the habitat.
References
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Zar, J.H. 1996. Biostatistical analysis. Third edition. Prentice- Hall, Inc. Simon & Schuster/A Viacom Company, New Jersey, USA. 121 pp.
Ziv, Y., B.P. Kotler, Z. Abramsky and M.L. Rosenzweig. 1995.Foraging efficiencies of competing rodents: why do gerbils exhibit shared- preference habitat selection? Oikos 73:260-268.
Zuleta, G.A., F.O. Kravetz, M. Busch y R.E. Percich. 1988. Dinámica poblacional del ratón del pastizal pampeano (Akodon azarae) en ecosistemas agrarios de Argentina. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 61:231- 244.
Bilenca, D.N. and F.O. Kravetz. 1998. Seasonal variations in microhabitat use and food habits of the pampas mouse, Akodon azarae, in agroecosystems of Central Argentina. Acta Theriologica 43:195-203.
Bonaventura, S.M., M.I. Bellocq y F.O. Kravetz. 1988. Selección de hdbitat por roedores en campos de cultivo. Un estudio experimental. Physis (Bs As), Secc. C, 46:61- 66.
Bonaventura, S.M., F.O. Kravetz and O.V. Suárez. 1992. The relationships between food availability, space use and territoriality in Akodon azarae (Rodentia, Cricetidae). Mammalia 56:407-416.
Bonaventura, S.M. and M. Cagnoni. 1995. La vegetación de los bordes de caminos en agroecosistemas. Physis (Bs. As.), Sec. C, 50:63-71.
Brown, J.S., B.P. Kotler, and W.A. Mitchell. 1994. Foraging theory, patch use, and the structure of a Negev desert granivore community. Ecology 75:2286-2300.
Busch, M., F.O. Kravetz, R.E. Percich y G.A. Zuleta. 1984. Propuestas para un control ecológico de la Fiebre Hemorrágica Argentina a través del manejo del hdbitat. Medicina (Buenos Aires) 44:34-40.
Busch, M., M.R. Alvarez,P. de Carli yF.O. Kravetz. 1991. Variacionesinteranuales en la densidad de roedores cricétidos. Resúmenes 7as Jornadas Argentinas de Mastozoología.
Busch, M. and F.O. Kravetz. 1992a. Competitive interactions among rodents (Akodon azarae, Calomys laucha, Calomys musculinus and Oligoryzomys flavescens) in a two habitat system. I. Spatial and numerical relationships. Mammalia 56:45-56.
Busch, M. and F.O. Kravetz. 1992b. Competitive interactions among rodents (Akodon azarae, Calomys laucha, Calomys musculinus and Oligoryzomys flavescens) in a two habitat system. II. Effect of speciesremoval. Mammalia 56:541-554.
Busch, M., M.R. Alvarez, E.A. Cittadino and F.O. Kravetz. 1997. Habitat selection and interspecific competition in rodents in pampean agroecosystems. Mammalia 61:167-184.
Cittadino, E.A., M. Busch andF.O. Kravetz. 1999.Population abundance and dispersalin Akodon azarae (pampean grassland mouse) in Argentina. Canadian Journal of Zoology 76:1011-1018.
de Villafañe, G. and S.M. Bonaventura. 1987. Ecological studies in crop fields of the endemic area of Argentine hemorrhagic fever. Calomys musculinus movements in relation to habitat and abundance. Mammalia 51:233-248.
de Villafañe, G.N.,J. Merler, R. Quintana and R. Bo. 1992. Habitatselection in cricetine rodent population on maize field in the Pampa region of Argentina. Mammalia 56: 215-229.
Dooley, J.L., Jr. and M.A. Bowers. 1996. Influences of patch size and microhabitat on the demography of two old- field rodents. Oikos 75:453-462.
Ellis, B.A., J.N. Mills, J.E. Childs, M.C. Muzzini, K.T. Me Kee, Jr, D.A. Enria and G.E. Glass. 1997. Structure and floristics of habitats associated with five rodent species in an agroecosystem in Central Argentina. Journal of the Zoological Society of London 243:437-460.
Ellis, B.A.,J.N. Mills, G.E. Glass, K.T. Me Kee,Jr, D.E. Enria and J.E. Childs. 1998. Dietary habits of the common rodents in an agroecosystem in Argentina. Journal of Mammalogy 79:1203-1220.
Fretwell, S.D. and H.L. Lucas, Jr. 1970. On territorial behavior and other factors influencing habitat distribution in birds. 1. Theoretical development. Acta Biotheoretica 19:16-36.
Hodara, K. 1997.Preferencias de hábitat y densodependencia en dos especies de roedores (Akodon azarae y Calomys laucha) de agroecosistemas pampeanos. Tesis Doctoral. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina. 154 pp.
Hurlbert, S.H. 1984. Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. Ecological Monographs 54:187- 211.
Kotler, B.P. 1997. Patch use by gerbills in a risky environment: manipulating food and safety to test four models. Oikos 78:275-282.
Kosoy, M.L. R.A. Slomova, J.N. Mills, E. Mandel and J.E. Childs. 1997. Community structure and prevalence of hantavirus infection in rodents: a geographic division of the enzootic area in eastern Russia. Journal of Vector Ecology 22:52-63.
Kravetz,F.O. y J.J.Polop. 1983. Comunidades de roedores en agroecosistemas del Depto. de Rio Cuarto, Córdoba. Ecosur 10:1-10.
Lavorel, S., R.H. Gardner and R.V. O’ Neill. 1993. Analysis of patterns in hierarchically structured landscapes. Oikos 67:521-528.
Mills, J.N. Ellis, B.A., Mc Kee, K.T., Maiztegui, J.I. and Childs, J.E. 1991. Habitat associations and relative densities of rodent populationsin cultivated areas of central Argentina.Journal of Mammalogy 72:470-479.
Mills,J.N., B.A. Ellis, K.T. Mc Kee,J.1. Maiztegui and J.E. Childs. 1992. Reproductive characteristics of rodent assemblages in cultivated regions of central Argentina. Journal of Mammalogy 73:515-526.
Morris, D.W. 1987. Ecological scale and habitat use. Ecology 68:362- 369.
Morris, D.W. 1996. Coexistence of specialist and generalist rodents via habitat selection. Ecology 77:2352-2364.
Morris, D.W. 1997. Optimally foraging deer mice in prairie mosaics: a test of habitat theory and absence of landscape effects. Oikos 80:31-42.
Norman, G.R. and Streiner, D.L. 1996. Bioestadistica. Time Mirror International Publishers. Division Iberoamericana. Madrid, España. 260 pp.
Orians, G.H. and J.F. Witterberger. 1991. Spatial and temporal scales in habitat selection. American Naturalist 137:29- 49.
Pielou, E.C. 1984. The Interpretation of Ecological Data: A Primer on Classification and Ordination. Jonh Wiley & Sons eds., New York, USA. 263 pp.
Redford, K.H. and J.F. Eisenberg, 1992. Mammals of the Neotropics. TheSouthern Cone. Volume 2. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London. 430 pp.
Rusch, G.M. and M. Oesterheld. 1997. Relationships between productivity, and species and functional group diversity in grazed and non-grazed Pampas grassland. Oikos 78:519- 526.
Schaefer, J. andF. Messier. 1995. Habitat selection as a hierarchy:the spatial scales of winter foraging by muskoxen. Ecography 18:333- 344.
Senft, R.L., M.B. Coughenour, D.W. Bailey, R.L. Rittenhouse, O.E. Sala and D.M. Swift. 1987. Large herbivore foraging and ecological hierarchies. Bioscience 11:789- 799.
Sokal, R.R. andF.J. Rohlf. 1981. Biometry. The principles and practice ofstatisticsin biological research. W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, USA. 859 pp.
Wiens, J.A., N.Ch. Stenseth, B. van Horne and R.A. Ims. 1993. Ecological mechanisms and landscape ecology. Oikos 66:369-380.
Zar, J.H. 1996. Biostatistical analysis. Third edition. Prentice- Hall, Inc. Simon & Schuster/A Viacom Company, New Jersey, USA. 121 pp.
Ziv, Y., B.P. Kotler, Z. Abramsky and M.L. Rosenzweig. 1995.Foraging efficiencies of competing rodents: why do gerbils exhibit shared- preference habitat selection? Oikos 73:260-268.
Zuleta, G.A., F.O. Kravetz, M. Busch y R.E. Percich. 1988. Dinámica poblacional del ratón del pastizal pampeano (Akodon azarae) en ecosistemas agrarios de Argentina. Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 61:231- 244.
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2000-06-01
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Busch, M., Miño, M. H., Dadon, J. R., & Hodara, K. (2000). Habitat selection by Calomys musculinus (Muridae, Sigmodontinae) in crop areas of the pampean region, Argentina. Ecología Austral, 10(1), 015–026. Retrieved from https://ojs.ecologiaaustral.com.ar/index.php/Ecologia_Austral/article/view/1595
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