Habitat selection and home range in the Blanford's fox, Vulpes cana: compatibility with the resource dispersion hypothesis

Hefner, Reuven; Macdonald, David W.; Ucko, Michal

doi:10.1007/bf00317244

Cited by 63 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…The foxes in Maremma therefore concentrated their activity in a small area, while maintaining regular access to a large area. Foxes did not consistently select a particular habitat, as in simpler environments (Macdonald 1981, Hersteinsson and Macdonald 1982, Kruuk and Parish 1982, Geffen et al 1992b, but included heterogeneous areas in their ranges. Within their home range, all foxes strongly and consistently selected the habitat with the densest cover for resting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Home range, habitat selection and activity of the red fox in a Mediterranean coastal ecotone

Cavallini¹,

Lovari²

1994

Acta Theriol.

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Home range, habitat selection and activity of the red fox in a Mediterranean coastal ecotone Paolo CAVALLINI and Sandro LOVARI* Cavallini P. and Lovari S. 1994. Home range, habitat selection and activity of the red fox in a Mediterranean coastal ecotone. Acta theriol. 39: 279-287.Ranging behaviour and activity of five (2 females, 3 males) red foxes Vulpes vulpes (Linnaeus, 1758) in the Mediterranean coastal area of Maremma Natural Park (central Italy; an area of great habitat diversity) are described. One female ranged over a very small area and had diurnal activity rhythms. For other foxes, home range size (100% minimum convex polygon) varied between 86 and 485 ha (larger than fox ranges in urban areas and smaller than in northern or homogeneous areas), and core areas (50% harmonic mean) between 4.0 and 13.7 ha. Habitat diversity within home ranges was significantly higher than that of the overall area. Within their home ranges, foxes selected scrubwood for resting. When active, they showed individual differences in habitat selection. Peak activity was between 20.00 h and 22.00 h, but foxes were active also during the day.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Home range, habitat selection and activity of the red fox in a Mediterranean coastal ecotone

Cavallini¹,

Lovari²

1994

Acta Theriol.

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“…Patches of fruitful mixed forest are interspersed with other vegetational strata such as pine, oak, and fir forest, which may automatically lead to an enlargement of the home range because the band has to cross the less desired other forest types to reach their preferred forest type. Home range is thus expected to be larger where such fruitful patches are fragmented and dispersed (sensu Geffen et al 1992).…”

Section: Why Such a Large Home Range? Intraspecific Comparisons Amongmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ranging of Rhinopithecus bieti in the Samage Forest, China. I. Characteristics of Range Use

Grueter

Schaik

et al. 2008

Int J Primatol

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We quantified the home range and explored the style of ranging of blackand-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti) in the subtropical-temperate montane Samage Forest (part of Baimaxueshan Nature Reserve) in the vicinity of Gehuaqing. Over 14.5 mo, we took positional records of the study band via a GPS receiver at 30-min intervals, and found that they covered an area of 32 km 2 . Over a 10-yr period, the group even ranged in an area of 56 km 2 , which is among the largest home range estimates for any primate. The large home range was probably due to the combined effects of large group size (N>400) and forest heterogeneity, with seasonally food-rich areas interspersed with less valuable areas. The subjects did not use their home range uniformly: 29% of the grid cells had more location records than expected based on a uniform distribution, thus representing a core area, albeit a disjunct one. A continuous 1-mo group follow in the fall revealed that the band traveled on average 1.62 km/d and that days of concentrated use of a particular forest block were followed by more extensive marches. Neither climate nor human disturbance parameters correlate significantly with monthly estimates of the group's home range size. Even though there is no significant correlation between temporal availability of plant phenophases and range size, our observations implicate temporal and spatial availability of food as a determinant of home range use of the focal group. Winter, Int J Primatol (spring, and summer home ranges are equally large: 18.2, 17.8, and 18.6 km 2 , respectively. Home range decreased markedly in fall (9.3 km 2 ), probably because the band obtained sufficient food resources (fruit) in a smaller area. The large winter range is best attributed to the exploitation of dispersed clumped patches of mature fruits.

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“…Based on simulation analyses of range size, between 100 and 200 ®xes are needed to reach an asymptotic range size (Bekoff & Mech, 1984), a result supported by ®eld studies (e.g. Geffen, Hefner et al, 1992b;Macdonald & Courtenay, 1996). We determined the number of ®xes needed to reach an asymptotic range size based on 10 ranges delineated with c. 200 ®xes (mean 206, sd 18).…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Range Overlap and Dispersalmentioning

confidence: 99%

The behavioural ecology of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis)

et al. 2001

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Insular populations typically occur at higher densities, have higher survivorship, reduced fecundity, decreased dispersal, and reduced aggression compared to their mainland counterparts. Insularity may also affect mating system and genetic population structure. However, these factors have not been examined simultaneously in any island vertebrate. Here we report on the ecological, behavioural and genetic characteristics of a small carnivore, the island fox Urocyon littoralis, from Fraser Point, Santa Cruz Island, California. Dispersal distances in island foxes are very low (mean 1.39 km, sd 1.26, range 0.16±3.58 km, n = 8). Home-range size is one of the smallest (mean annual home range = 0.55 km 2 , sd 0.2, n =14) and density is nearly the highest recorded for any canid species (2.4±15.9 foxes/km 2 ). Similar to other fox species, island foxes are distributed as mated pairs that maintain discrete territories. Overlap among mated pairs was always high (mean 0.85, sd 0.05), while overlap among neighbours (mean 0.11, sd 0.13), regardless of sex, was low. Despite this high degree of territoriality, island foxes are not strictly monogamous. Four of 16 offspring whose parents were identi®ed by paternity analysis were a result of extra-pair fertilizations. Mated pairs were unrelated, however, suggesting inbreeding avoidance. Substantial population differentiation was found between the Fraser Point subpopulation and one only 13 km away (F st = 0.11). We suggest that the primary effect of ®nite island area is to limit dispersal, which then in¯uences the demography, behaviour and genetic structure of island fox populations.

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Habitat selection and home range in the Blanford's fox, Vulpes cana: compatibility with the resource dispersion hypothesis

Cited by 63 publications

References 13 publications

Home range, habitat selection and activity of the red fox in a Mediterranean coastal ecotone

Home range, habitat selection and activity of the red fox in a Mediterranean coastal ecotone

Ranging of Rhinopithecus bieti in the Samage Forest, China. I. Characteristics of Range Use

The behavioural ecology of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis)

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