Habitat and food preferences of European rabbits in core and edge populations along the invasion front Patagonia-Monte, Argentina.

ABSTRACT: The European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus is an exotic herbivorous mammal undergoing an active phase of geographical expansion in the arid ecosystems of Argentina. The Adaptive Flexibility Hypothesis states that populations at the range edge (new populations) will exhibit greater flexibility in the use of resources compared with populations located in the range core (older populations). The objective of this work was to compare the rabbit's use of spatial and trophic resources in relation to the establishment time of their populations. The sampling was carried out for 2 years (2017 and 2018) in sites with different establishment times for rabbit populations. Random sampling stratified by type of habitat was applied using 115 fixed strip transects of 1,000 m² laid out acro

SUBMITTER: Bobadilla SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11255995 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature