Low tortoise abundances in pine forest plantations in forest-shrubland transition areas.

ABSTRACT: In the transition between Mediterranean forest and the arid subtropical shrublands of the southeastern Iberian Peninsula, humans have transformed habitat since ancient times. Understanding the role of the original mosaic landscapes in wildlife species and the effects of the current changes as pine forest plantations, performed even outside the forest ecological boundaries, are important conservation issues. We studied variation in the density of the endangered spur-thighed tortoise (Testudo graeca) in three areas that include the four most common land types within the species' range (pine forests, natural shrubs, dryland crop fields, and abandoned crop fields). Tortoise densities were estimated using a two-stage modeling approach with line transect distance sampling. Densities in dryland c

SUBMITTER: Rodriguez-Caro RC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5342264 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature