scholarly journals Assessing Genetic Structure in Common but Ecologically Distinct Carnivores: The Stone Marten and Red Fox

PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e0145165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mafalda P. Basto ◽  
Margarida Santos-Reis ◽  
Luciana Simões ◽  
Clara Grilo ◽  
Luís Cardoso ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Stone Marten

scholarly journals Mice and Habitat Complexity Attract Carnivorans to Recently Burnt Forests

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 855
Author(s):  
Roger Puig-Gironès ◽  
Pere Pons
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Resource Availability ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Fleshy Fruit ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Burnt Area ◽  
Fruit Availability

Faunal responses to wildfire depend on the fire effects on direct mortality, habitat structure, and resource availability for animals. Despite the importance of large predators in terrestrial trophic webs, little is still known about how fire affects carnivorans (the mammalian order Carnivora). To evaluate the responses of the carnivoran community to fire, we studied three recently burnt forest areas in the western Mediterranean basin. Line transects were used to quantify evidence of carnivorans (mainly feces) and to measure environmental variables and resources (small mammal abundance, fleshy fruit availability, and plant cover). Throughout the study, we found 212 carnivoran field signs, 93% of them produced by red fox and stone marten. Immediately after fire, carnivoran occurrence was more frequent close to the perimeter of the burnt area, where fire severity was low, and in places with greater small mammal abundance. Small mammal abundance and plant cover had the greatest effect on the frequency of occurrence of red fox in the burnt area surroundings, and this increased with time-since-fire in the burnt area. Furthermore, the presence of red fox did not affect stone marten occurrence. Stone martens were found around the burnt area perimeter, probably because of their preference for high plant cover, and they were not significantly affected by small mammal abundance. The scat frequency of occurrence of both species was not significantly related to fleshy fruit availability. Accordingly, rodents and carnivorans were more abundant where the habitat was more complex. Our results show that the responses of some carnivorans to fire are influenced, directly and indirectly, by habitat structure and resource availability.

scholarly journals Inferring Population Genetic Structure in Widely and Continuously Distributed Carnivores: The Stone Marten (Martes foina) as a Case Study

PLoS ONE ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. e0134257 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Vergara ◽  
Mafalda P. Basto ◽  
María José Madeira ◽  
Benjamín J. Gómez-Moliner ◽  
Margarida Santos-Reis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Population Genetic Structure ◽  
Population Genetic ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Martes Foina

Concentrations of Trace Elements in Tissues of Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes) and Stone Marten (Martes foina) from Suburban and Rural Areas in Croatia

2010 ◽  
Vol 85 (5) ◽  
pp. 486-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Bilandžić ◽  
Danko Dežđek ◽  
Marija Sedak ◽  
Maja Đokić ◽  
Božica Solomun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Vulpes Vulpes ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Martes Foina

scholarly journals Intraguild Predation by the Eagle Owl Determines the Space Use of a Mesopredator Carnivore

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 359
Author(s):  
Emilio Virgós ◽  
Noemí Baniandrés ◽  
Tamara Burgos ◽  
Mariano R. Recio
Keyword(s):  
Intraguild Predation ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Landscape Of Fear ◽  
Top Predators ◽  
Eagle Owl ◽  
Conservation And Management

Top predators shape the communities of sympatric predators by killing and displacing smaller predators. Predation risk pushes smaller predators to select enemy-free spaces irrespective of food availability, which results in changes in their behaviour, space use, distribution, and abundance. Although the landscape of fear dynamics are known for top predators such as the eagle owl and its impact on smaller raptors, the effect of the presence and abundance of the eagle owl on the space use of mesopredator carnivores remains poorly understood. Here, we studied this effect on the space use of the stone marten in a Mediterranean ecosystem where it shares rabbits as main prey with the eagle owl. We also accounted for the presence of another sympatric carnivore, the red fox. Using a multi-model inference, we found stone martens avoided areas with a higher abundance of eagle owls and rabbits, which suggested a hyperpredation process and a cognitive association by stone martens between rabbit hotspots and owl presence. We found a positive relationship between the space use of the red fox and the stone marten, which suggested foxes behaved as competitors and not predators of martens. Understanding intraguild predation can assist the conservation and management of predators and their prey.

scholarly journals Effects on carrion consumption in a mammalian scavenger community when dominant species are excluded

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Tobajas ◽  
Esther Descalzo ◽  
Pablo Ferreras ◽  
Rafael Mateo ◽  
Antoni Margalida
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Sus Scrofa ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Meles Meles ◽  
Control Area ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Martes Foina ◽  
Egyptian Mongoose ◽  
Herpestes Ichneumon

AbstractCarrion is a valuable resource exploited not only by obligate scavengers but also by a wide variety of facultative scavengers. These species provide several important ecosystem services which can suffer if the scavenger community composition is altered, thus reducing the ecosystem provided. We studied the response of the Mediterranean facultative scavenger community to the exclusion of larger scavenger species (red fox Vulpes vulpes, European badger Meles meles, and wild boar Sus scrofa) using an exclusion fence permeable to small scavenger species (mainly Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon, common genet Genetta genetta, and stone marten Martes foina). The exclusion of dominant facultative scavengers led to a significant reduction in the amount of carrion consumed and an increase in carrion available for smaller species and decomposers, over a longer period of time. Although carrion consumption by the non-excluded species increased inside the exclusion area relative to the control area, it was insufficient to compensate for the carrion not eaten by the dominant scavengers. Of the small scavenger species, only the Egyptian mongoose significantly increased its carrion consumption in the exclusion area, and was the main beneficiary of the exclusion of dominant facultative scavengers. Therefore, altering the facultative scavenger community in Mediterranean woodlands can reduce the efficiency of small carcass removal and benefit other opportunistic species, such as the Egyptian mongoose, by increasing the carrion available to them. This interaction could have substantial implications for disease transmission, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem function.

scholarly journals Exposure of Free-Ranging Wild Animals to Zoonotic Leptospira interrogans Sensu Stricto in Slovenia

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 2722
Author(s):  
Diana Žele-Vengušt ◽  
Renata Lindtner-Knific ◽  
Nina Mlakar-Hrženjak ◽  
Klemen Jerina ◽  
Gorazd Vengušt
Keyword(s):  
Red Deer ◽  
Red Fox ◽  
Roe Deer ◽  
Sensu Stricto ◽  
Lepus Europaeus ◽  
Leptospira Interrogans ◽  
Lynx Lynx ◽  
Wild Animals ◽  
Stone Marten ◽  
Serum Samples

A total of 249 serum samples from 13 wild animal species namely fallow deer (Dama dama, n = 1), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus, n = 80), red deer (Cervus elaphus, n = 22), chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra, n = 21), mouflon (Ovis musimon, n = 4), brown hare (Lepus europaeus, n = 2), nutria (Myocastor coypus, n = 1), red fox (Vulpes vulpes, n = 97), stone marten (Martes foina, n = 12), European badger (Meles meles, n = 2), golden jackal (Canis aureus, n = 2) Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx, n = 2) and grey wolf (Canis lupus, n = 3) were analysed for the presence of antibodies against Leptospira interrogans sensu stricto. Serum samples were examined via the microscopic agglutination test for the presence of specific antibodies against Leptospira serovars Icterohaemorrhagiae, Bratislava, Pomona, Grippotyphosa, Hardjo, Sejroe, Australis, Autumnalis, Canicola, Saxkoebing and Tarassovi. Antibodies to at least one of the pathogenic serovars were detected in 77 (30.9%; CI = 25–37%) sera. The proportion of positive samples varied intraspecifically and was the biggest in large carnivores (lynx, wolf and jackal; 86%), followed by mezzo predators: stone marten (67%) and red fox (34%), and large herbivores: red deer (32%), roe deer (25%), alpine chamois (10%) and mouflon (0%). Out of the 77 positive samples, 42 samples (53.8%) had positive titres against a single serovar, while 35 (45.4%) samples had positive titres against two or more serovars. The most frequently detected antibodies were those against the serovar Icterohaemorrhagiae. The present study confirmed the presence of multiple pathogenic serovars in wildlife throughout Slovenia. It can be concluded that wild animals are reservoirs for at least some of the leptospiral serovars and are a potential source of leptospirosis for other wild and domestic animals, as well as for humans.

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