Impacto de la gestión del hábitat sobre la comunidad de micromamíferos del Parque Nacional de Doñana (SO de España)

Abstract

Scrubland clearcutting forms one of main management techniques conducted in the Doñana National Park, and has the aim of creating open areas where rabbits can feed, as these animals are the basic prey of lynx and imperial eagle. This management measure has produced a deep change in scrubland structure, without its effect on other species characteristic of this habitat, such as small mammals, remains unknown. This study evaluated shrub removal by controlled burning on the micromammal community, and analysed its richness and temporal evolution in different environments. The study was conducted from the summer of 2006 to spring of 2007 using a capture-mark-recapture approach in 6 controlled burning plots (3 recents and 3 four years old) and in 3 control plots which were left untreated. Species richness was quite low, with only 4 species captured: Algerian mouse (Mus spretus), Wood Mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus), Greater white-toothed shrew (Crocidura russula) and Garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus). Abundance values were highly varied depending on the species, time of year and plot type. However, the most abundant species by far was Mus spretus. The comparison of the results obtained in the managed plots respect to the control ones, suggest that burning of scrub is a management technique that favours not only rabbit populations but also small mammals community, mainly due to edge effect caused by fire. The scrubland clearcutting would have to be realised of rotatory form and favoring the creation of zones of contact between both habitats.