Abstract
Wildfires are important sources of landscape change in Mediterranean environments, creating large patches of low-growth natural habitats (i.e., scrublands) inside protected areas, whereas woodland patches remain mostly near well protected human settlements. Landscape patterns resulting from these gradients influence habitat suitability for mesocarnivores regarding food and shelter. In winter and summer 2019, we sampled 16 independent line-transects with four camera traps each (64 cameras overall), covering the main habitats of the study area (woodlands, scrublands, and crops). Cameras were baited to compensate for the low detectability of target species, and mesocarnivore contacts were analysed by means of GLMMs and occupancy models. Our results showed a positive and stronger association of wild species with woodland habitats, despite the low proportion of habitat available, higher presence of competitors (other mesocarnivores), and potential predators (human pets, i.e., dogs), and low natural prey availability than in scrubland (i.e., small mammals). However, mesocarnivores will find protection against predators and resting sites in forests as well as other food opportunities in crops and urban areas, despite the possible interference with humans and their pets. Potential cascading effects linked to ecological roles of Mediterranean mesocarnivores on the succession of Mediterranean landscapes would imply longer-term effects of human disturbance on landscape trends.
Highlights
Indirect effects mediated by fear may be stronger than numeric effects [4,5], sometimes even cascading down to plant populations by decreasing herbivory or increasing mutualistic interactions such as seed dispersal [6]. In spite of their key influence on communities, fewer work has been conducted on mesocarnivore response to global change compared to more charismatic top predators [7,8]
Tree cover is composed of Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis), which was negatively affected by fire recurrence, with two large wildfires burning 10,000 ha (1982) and 4300 ha (1994), compromising tree regeneration [22]
The second explained the 19% ofthe interpreted as a gradient fromto crops to scrublands
Summary
Responses of predators to global change may have cascading effects on prey communities well beyond the direct effects of global change drivers on prey [1]. Indirect effects mediated by fear may be stronger than numeric effects [4,5], sometimes even cascading down to plant populations by decreasing herbivory or increasing mutualistic interactions such as seed dispersal [6]. In spite of their key influence on communities, fewer work has been conducted on mesocarnivore response to global change compared to more charismatic top predators [7,8]. Land-use and related changes (i.e., fragmentation) are the main causes of biodiversity loss worldwide [9] and mesocarnivores are considered as suitable indicators for conservation planning under the human-induced habitat fragmentation framework [10]
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