Dung-pile use by guanacos in eastern Patagonia
-
Andrea Marino
Abstract
Previous studies on guanacos have reported that only territorial males create and maintain dung-piles. The aim of this analysis was to compare dung-pile use by territorial males with the use by females and young in family groups, and by bachelor males. Although territorial males showed the highest dung-pile use, all individuals dropped feces on piles frequently, in contrast to what was previously observed within other guanaco populations. Besides stressing the behavioral plasticity of guanacos, these results suggest an additional adaptive function of localized-defecation other than demarcating territory ownership by the territorial male.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank Alejo Irigoyen, Marcela Nabte, Martín Zamero, Victoria Rodriguez, Gustavo Pazos and Lorena Martinez for their help and support in the field work; William Franklin and Victoria Rodríguez, and two anonymous reviewers for their early comments on this study; Centro Nacional Patagónico for providing logistical facilities; and Dirección de Conservación de Areas Protegidas y Dirección de Flora y Fauna de la Provincia de Chubut for authorizing the field work. This work was supported by the Rufford Small Grant Foundation [grant no. 06.03.07, 2007], and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de Argentina.
References
Beldomenico, P.M., M. Uhart, M.F. Bonoa, C. Marull, R. Baldi and J.L. Peralta. 2003. Internal parasites of free-ranging guanacos from Patagonia. Vet. Parasitol. 118: 71–78.10.1016/j.vetpar.2003.09.008Suche in Google Scholar
Burgi, V. 2005. Homerange and habitat use by guanaco (Lama guanicoe) females in northeastern Chubut. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia, Puerto Madryn, p. 41.Suche in Google Scholar
Crawley, M.J. 2007. The R book. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Chichester.10.1002/9780470515075Suche in Google Scholar
Estes, R.D. 1991. The behavior guide to African mammals. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.Suche in Google Scholar
Ezenwa, V.O. 2008. Selective defecation and selective foraging: antiparasite behavior in wild ungulates? Ethology 110: 851–862.10.1111/j.1439-0310.2004.01013.xSuche in Google Scholar
Franklin, W.L. 1982. Biology, ecology, and relationship to man of the South American camelids. In: (M.A. Mares and H.H. Genoways, eds.) Mammalian biology in South America, Special publications series, Vol 6, Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology and University of Pittsburg, Linesville, PA. pp. 457–489.Suche in Google Scholar
Franklin, W.L. 1983. Contrasting socioecologies of South America’s wild camelids: the vicuña and the guanaco. Am. Soc. Mam. Special Publication 7: 573–628.Suche in Google Scholar
Henriquez, J.M. 2004. Camelid defecation influences vegetation development and species richnesss on glacial moraines. Tierra del Fuego. R. Ch. Hist. Nat. 77: 501–508.10.4067/S0716-078X2004000300009Suche in Google Scholar
Jarman, P.J. 1974. Social organization of antelope. Behaviour 48: 215–267.10.1163/156853974X00345Suche in Google Scholar
Marino, A. 2010. Costs and benefits of sociality differ between female guanacos living in contrasting ecological conditions. Ethology 116: 1–12.10.1111/j.1439-0310.2010.01812.xSuche in Google Scholar
Marino, A. 2011. Guanaco and anti-predator response: behaviour, social organisation and vulnerability to predation. Universidad Nacional del Comahue, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina.Suche in Google Scholar
Marino, A. 2012. Indirect measures of reproductive effort in a resource-defense polygynous ungulate: territorial defense by male guanacos. J. Ethol. 30: 83–91.10.1007/s10164-011-0299-4Suche in Google Scholar
Marino, A., M. Pascual and R. Baldi. 2014. Ecological drivers of guanaco recruitment: variable carrying capacity and density dependence. Oecologia 175: 1189–1200.10.1007/s00442-014-2965-zSuche in Google Scholar
Puig, S. and F. Videla. 1995. Comportamiento y organización social del guanaco. In: (S. Puig, ed.) Técnicas para el manejo del guanaco. UICN, Gland, Switzerland. pp. 97–118.Suche in Google Scholar
Putman, R.J., A.D. Fowler and S. Tout. 1991. Patterns of use of ancient grassland by cattle and horses and effects on vegetational composition and structure. Biol. Cons. 56: 329–347.10.1016/0006-3207(91)90065-HSuche in Google Scholar
Taylor, E.L. 1954. Grazing behaviour and helminthic disease. Br. J. Anim. Bahav. 2: 61–62.10.1016/S0950-5601(54)80033-5Suche in Google Scholar
Vilá, B. 1994. Use of dung piles by neighbouring vicuñas. Z. Säugetierk. 59: 126–128.Suche in Google Scholar
Walther, F.R., E.C. Mungal and G.A. Grau. 1983. Gazelles and their relatives: a study of territorial behavior. Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, New Jersey.Suche in Google Scholar
Wronski, T., A. Apio and M. Plath. 2006. The communicatory significance of localised defecation sites in bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus). Behav. Ecol. Soc. 60: 368–378.10.1007/s00265-006-0174-4Suche in Google Scholar
Zalba, S.M. and A. Loydi. 2014. The influence of feral horses dung piles on surrounding vegetation. Manag. Biol. Invasion. 5: 73–79.10.3391/mbi.2014.5.1.07Suche in Google Scholar
©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Obituary
- In memoriam Jamshid Darvish
- Museology/history of sciences
- On the shoulders of giants: Reginald Innes Pocock and integrative mammal research in museums and zoos
- Ecology
- Space use and movement of jaguar (Panthera onca) in western Paraguay
- A review of the status of the Western polecat Mustela putorius: a neglected and declining species?
- Diversity of primates and other mammals in the middle Purus basin in the Brazilian Amazon
- Rapid expansion of the American mink poses a serious threat to the European mink in Spain
- New reports of the presence and ecology of the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri) in South Sumatra
- Reproduction of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) outside current resident breeding populations in Europe: evidence from the Czech Republic
- Dung-pile use by guanacos in eastern Patagonia
- Conservation
- Stable isotope analysis as a minimal-invasive method for dietary studies on the highly endangered Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus)
- New localities, an update on the conservation status and ethnographic notes for the dingiso tree kangaroo, Dendrolagus mbaiso Flannery, Boeadi et Szalay (Diprotodontia: Macropodidae)
- Biogeography
- First record of the Egyptian fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus (Pteropodidae), from Kastellorizo island, Greece
- Recent records of dhole (Cuon alpinus, Pallas 1811) in Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya, India
- Evolutionary biology
- First records of hypopigmentation disorders in the Peters’ ghost-faced bat Mormoops megalophylla (Chiroptera, Mormoopidae)
- Historical record of Holochilus vulpinus (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) from northern Patagonia, Argentina
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- On the identity of Didelphis marsupialis Linnaeus 1758
- Annual reviewer acknowledgement
- Reviewer acknowledgement Mammalia volume 82 (2018)
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Obituary
- In memoriam Jamshid Darvish
- Museology/history of sciences
- On the shoulders of giants: Reginald Innes Pocock and integrative mammal research in museums and zoos
- Ecology
- Space use and movement of jaguar (Panthera onca) in western Paraguay
- A review of the status of the Western polecat Mustela putorius: a neglected and declining species?
- Diversity of primates and other mammals in the middle Purus basin in the Brazilian Amazon
- Rapid expansion of the American mink poses a serious threat to the European mink in Spain
- New reports of the presence and ecology of the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri) in South Sumatra
- Reproduction of the golden jackal (Canis aureus) outside current resident breeding populations in Europe: evidence from the Czech Republic
- Dung-pile use by guanacos in eastern Patagonia
- Conservation
- Stable isotope analysis as a minimal-invasive method for dietary studies on the highly endangered Common hamster (Cricetus cricetus)
- New localities, an update on the conservation status and ethnographic notes for the dingiso tree kangaroo, Dendrolagus mbaiso Flannery, Boeadi et Szalay (Diprotodontia: Macropodidae)
- Biogeography
- First record of the Egyptian fruit bat, Rousettus aegyptiacus (Pteropodidae), from Kastellorizo island, Greece
- Recent records of dhole (Cuon alpinus, Pallas 1811) in Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya, India
- Evolutionary biology
- First records of hypopigmentation disorders in the Peters’ ghost-faced bat Mormoops megalophylla (Chiroptera, Mormoopidae)
- Historical record of Holochilus vulpinus (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae) from northern Patagonia, Argentina
- Taxonomy/phylogeny
- On the identity of Didelphis marsupialis Linnaeus 1758
- Annual reviewer acknowledgement
- Reviewer acknowledgement Mammalia volume 82 (2018)
