Hunting bags provide important information for conservation measures and wildlife management. This study is to assess relationships between landscape structure and game species. The community parameters (abundance, richness and diversity) and landscape/land use indices have been related, using GIS and statistical analysis, in the South-East of Spain (Marina Baja, Alicante). Game species richness (S) is determined by the presence of fruit groves (p = 0.001, R = 0.714) and landscape shape. The total density of species (TD) is influenced positively by fruit groves (p = 0.001, R = 0.783) and wooded shrublands (p = 0.002, R = 0.911), but is influenced negatively by urban areas (p < 0.001, R = 0.844). Small game communities correlate to irrigated fruit (p = 0.002, R = 0.754) and dry vineyard (p = 0.021, R = 0.839) and also with the diversity landscape index (p = 0.029, R = 0.708). Big game density is positively related to holm oak (p = 0.018, R = 0.812) and dense pine forests (p = 0.001, R = 0.849) and also with the total area landscape index (p = 0.011, R = 0.921). Population control species prefer irrigated fruit (p < 0.001, R = 0.775), fruit groves (p < 0.001, R = 0.857) and irrigated vineyard (p = 0.017, R = 0.833) land uses. Our conclusion is that most game species presents a positive relation with landscape structure, such as fractal dimension and shape index, and traditional agriculture based on irrigated and dry fruit crops.Additional key words: game community; GIS; hunting bags; Mediterranean agrosystem; semi-arid climate. ResumenPrincipales indicadores del paisaje que afectan a la comunidad de especies cinegéticas en un agroecosistema semiárido en la región mediterránea Los estadísticos de caza proporcionan información fundamental para implementar medidas de conservación y manejo de fauna. Este estudio pretende evaluar las relaciones entre la estructura del paisaje y las especies de caza. Se han relacionado los parámetros de la comunidad (abundancia, riqueza y diversidad), el paisaje y los índices de uso del suelo, usando SIG y análisis estadísticos, en el sureste de España (Marina Baja, Alicante). La riqueza de especies (S) está correlacionada positivamente con los frutales (p = 0,001, R = 0,714) y la forma del paisaje. La densidad total de especies (TD) está influenciada positivamente por los frutales (p = 0,001, R = 0,783) y el matorral arbolado (p = 0,002, R = 0,911), aunque influida negativamente por las zonas urbanas (p < 0,001, R = 0,844). Las especies de caza menor se correlacionan con el frutal de regadío (p = 0,002, R = 0,754), el viñedo de secano (p = 0,021, R = 0,839) y con el índice de diversidad del paisaje (p = 0,029, R = 0,708). La densidad de especies de caza mayor se relaciona positivamente con el encinar (p = 0,018, R = 0,812), el pinar denso (p = 0,001, R = 0,849) y con el índice de área total del paisaje (p = 0,011, R = 0,921). Las especies que requieren control de la población prefieren el frutal (p < 0,001, R = 0,775), la viña de regadío (p = 0,017, R = 0,833) y frutales de sec...
We analyzed plants that are traditionally used by wild bird hunters and breeders to capture and promote captive breeding of Fringillidae (finches or songbirds) in the province of Alicante, Spain. The majority of plants used in songbird breeding have medicinal properties in traditional human medicine (48 different uses); thus, another main goal was to show their relationships with human medical uses. We compiled a list of 97 plant species from 31 botanical families that are used to attract finches and identified 11 different use categories for these plants in finch keeping. The most common uses were for trapping birds and as a source of food for birds in captivity. Cannabis sativa has the greatest cultural importance index (CI = 1.158), and Phalaris canariensis (annual canary grass or alpist) was the most common species used to attract Fringillidae and was used by all informants (n = 158). Most of the 97 species are wild plants and mainly belong to the families Compositae, Gramineae, Cruciferae, and Rosaceae and also have medicinal properties for humans. In the study area, the intensification of agriculture and abandonment of traditional management practices have caused the population of many songbirds to decline, as well as the loss of popular ethnographic knowledge.
Landscape analysis with transects, in the Marina Baja area (province of Alicante, Spain), has contributed to establish the influence of different landscape matrices and some environmental gradients on wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Mammalia: Leporidae) abundance (kilometric abundance index, KAI). Transects (n = 396) were developed to estimate the abundance of this species in the study area from 2006 to 2008. Our analysis shows that rabbits have preferences for a specific land use matrix (irrigated: KAI = 3.47 ± 1.14 rabbits/km). They prefer the coastal area (KAI = 3.82 ± 1.71 rabbits/km), which coincides with thermo-Mediterranean (a bioclimatic belt with a tempered winter and a hot and dry summer with high human density), as opposed to areas in the interior (continental climate with lower human occupation). Their preference for the southern area of the region was also noted (KAI = 8.22 ± 3.90 rabbits/km), which coincides with the upper semi-arid area, as opposed to the northern and intermediate areas (the north of the region coinciding with the upper dry and the intermediate area with the lower dry). On the other hand, we found that the number of rabbits increased during the 3-year study period, with the highest abundance (KAI = 2.71 ± 1.30 rabbits/km) in May. Thus, this study will enable more precise knowledge of the ecological factors (habitat variables) that intervene in the distribution of wild rabbit populations in a poorly studied area.
Abstract. Several series of available environmental (land use/land cover, agriculture, soil, climate) variables are used in exploratory models to test their use for successful prediction of red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa L.) abundance in spring. A Geographic Information System and stepwise multiple regression analysis are used to show and predict distribution of this population parameter in an agricultural region of southern France. High spring abundance was observed to be distributed mainly in the central and north-western part of the study area. Two partial models, land use/land cover and agriculture, and a complete model with land use and temperature variables are the most significant and more accurate than any others. The complete model is the best model (lowest Akaike Information Criterion and highest Akaike weight). The potential abundance obtained from this best model shows communes with high Kilometric Abundance Indices (KAI), mainly located in the northwestern part of the region. Partridge abundance was unevenly or irregularly distributed across the study area, which is typical of wildlife species inhabiting complex and changing landscapes limited by various sources of human pressure, such as agriculture, urbanization and game management. A game tool is provided using potential spring abundance to plan the harvest quotas two months before opening the hunting season.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.