Space use patterns of a population are a result of the set of movements of its individuals, which are directly influenced by their attributes and environmental conditions. Understanding space use patterns and its determinants may give us insights about a species’ ecology, social and mating systems. Although echimyid rodents display a variety of mating and social systems, movements of burrowing species are poorly studied due to their cryptic habits. Hence, in this study, we evaluated the effects of body mass, sex, and palm fruit availability on space use patterns of the burrowing echimyid Clyomys laticeps, by measuring their daily home range (DHR) and intensity of habitat use. In 9 months of study in a “cerrado campo sujo” site, we tracked 14 adults with the spool‐and‐line in a backpack method. Adult males had larger DHR size than females, probably as a response to greater body mass and reproductive behavior. Furthermore, adult females had greater intensity of habitat use, presenting site fidelity, which can be due to offspring care as a response to non‐seasonal reproduction observed in our study and/or due to nest site defense strategy to avoid energetic costs associated with burrow construction. Differently from expected, food availability (i.e., Allagoptera campestris palm fruits) had no influence on the space use patterns of C. laticeps. As in other herbivorous rodents, shifts in proportion of consumed food items according to their availability may explain the lack of this influence in our study. Our findings suggest that space use patterns of C. laticeps are mainly explained by behavioral and physiological differences between sexes, including body mass and reproductive strategies. Additionally, larger male movements and female site fidelity suggest a solitary behavior and a polygynous mating system, although further studies regarding spatial organization and genetic structure are necessary to support these suggestions.
Soil disturbances promoted by the construction of subterranean systems are a classic example of ecosystem engineering. The broad‐headed spiny rat Clyomys laticeps caches seeds in subterranean systems excavated and occupied by its individuals, thus acting as potential ecosystem engineers in the Brazilian savannah. However, the effects of their activities on soil nutrient content and animal communities are still unknown. Here, we assessed the role of C. laticeps as an allogenic ecosystem engineer in a shrub savannah site. Our results demonstrated that C. laticeps subterranean systems, which contain three to seven burrow openings, provide a stable microclimate with lower temperatures and higher humidity than the outside environment, thus providing suitable habitat for several species. However, we found few animals associated with burrow systems, although previous studies recorded snakes, frogs, lizards and rodents using burrows as shelter. Both burrow architecture and methodological issues might explain the lack of a richer fauna using C. laticeps burrows. Arthropod abundance and diversity were similar between sites close to and away from C. laticeps burrow openings. Finally, mounds of soil accumulated surrounding burrow openings presented higher nutrient content (K, Ca, Mg) than soils collected inside burrow openings and control sites. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that C. laticeps acts as an ecosystem engineer, especially by modulating soil nutrient availability. Soil enrichment provided by C. laticeps burrowing activity may be particularly important in the Cerrado, due to low nutrient availability of soils and the contribution of edaphic factors on plant population dynamics in this biome, although future studies should focus on this issue. Given the accelerated habitat loss in the Cerrado and its effect on population decline of mammals, future studies should uncover the magnitude of engineering effects played by C. laticeps and pinpoint conservation actions to maintain their populations and their functional roles on ecosystems.
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