Abstract
AbstractAimIn an increasingly anthropogenic world, species face multiple interacting threats. Habitat fragmentation and domestic dogs are two perturbations threatening terrestrial mammals globally. Our aim was to determine whether (a) the spatial use of domestic dogs increases with habitat destruction, and (b) domestic dogs and habitat destruction drive the spatial use of native carnivores in a heavily degraded agricultural landscape.LocationCentral valley/Andean foothills transition of Los Lagos, Chile.MethodsWe implemented a camera trap survey in a fragmented landscape comprised of native forest patches amidst a matrix of pastureland. We used single‐species occupancy models to assess the impact of domestic dogs and habitat destruction on three mesocarnivores—the foxes, culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus) and chilla (Lycalopex griseus) and the wild cat güiña (Leopardus guigna). Additionally, we compared temporal activity of all study species including domestic dogs.ResultsDetection rates for both the foxes increased with domestic dog occupancy, while factors driving occupancy differed for each of the native species. We found that a 12% projected increase in domestic dog occupancy negatively impacted the spatial use of the culpeo. Habitat loss and fragmentation were positive drivers for chilla and domestic dog occupancy. The güiña did not respond to fragmentation and other habitat covariates or domestic dog occupancy. All native carnivore species were primarily nocturnal, while the domestic dog was almost entirely diurnal.Main ConclusionsWe highlight that domestic dog occupancy was positively correlated with habitat loss. Native species showed varied tolerance to domestic dog occupancy and no negative response to habitat destruction. Future conditions of increased fragmentation and habitat loss will likely increase the potential contact between domestic dogs and native carnivores.
Highlights
Fragmentation and habitat loss remain a global threat to biodiversity, increasing isolation between habitat patches, with emergent consequences from edge effects (Haddad et al, 2015; Pfeifer et al, 2017)
Chilla fox (Lycalopex griseus) visits to scent stations in southern Chile were negatively correlated with dog presence, and telemetry data showed that foxes rested in a habitat type that was not preferred by dogs (Silva-Rodríguez, Ortega-Solís, et al, 2010)
The threats that mammals face from habitat loss and fragmentation are especially relevant in the context of the temperate rain forests of central Chile, which have included rapid deforestation and fragmentation in the past 50 years (Echeverría et al, 2006, 2008; Nahuelhual et al, 2012; Uribe et al, 2020)
Summary
Fragmentation and habitat loss remain a global threat to biodiversity, increasing isolation between habitat patches, with emergent consequences from edge effects (Haddad et al, 2015; Pfeifer et al, 2017). How dog–wildlife interactions are facilitated by habitat fragmentation and concurrent loss (hereafter referred to as habitat “destruction”) is largely unstudied It is unknown whether habitat destruction and dogs have similar, opposing or synergistic impacts on carnivores. In the Valdivian temperate forest biodiversity hotspot of Chile, both habitat destruction and the presence of dogs are widespread and potentially devastating endemic species (Myers et al, 2000). These forests are being rapidly lost and converted to exotic plantations and pasturelands (Echeverría et al, 2006, 2012). We surveyed privately owned forest patches that were outside of protected areas or forestry company ownership using
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