Diet of Andean fox Lycalopex culpaeus (Molina, 1782) (Mammalia: Carnivora:Canidae) in the Ilinizas Ecological Reserve, Ecuador
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53157/ecotropicos.32e0011Keywords:
Predation, Feces, Mammals, Prey, Rodents, Sylvilagus andinusAbstract
Andean fox Lycalopex culpaeus (Molina, 1782) is the largest Andean canid in Ecuador. The study about the diet of this species is scarce across the country; in fact, there are very few works focused in this topic for the northern populations. Herein, we analyzed 205 stool samples of L. culpaeus collected (during November-December 2016) from a tourist trail of the Los Ilinizas Ecological Reserve, which is located in the western mountain range of the Ecuadorian Andes and involves a typical Andean páramo ecosystem. We found 657 prey items grouped in 35 taxa, for which the mammals (48.1%) and plants (37.9%) were the both more frequent items observed. The invertebrates (11.6%), birds (1.5%) and reptiles (0.9%) were also observed but in lower proportions. Additionally, it was observed that mammals contributed most of the biomass (98.2%) to the diet of Andean fox for this studied locality. The Sylvilagus andinus rabbit was the most important prey in both the frequency (26.1%) and biomass contribution (95.5%). Our results, reporting to the mammals as the main food source for L. culpaeus, are agree with previous studies in the region. The high frequency of fruitless plants observed here could be associated with accidental consumption during active predation on mammal-prey. However, considering that plants can be intentionally ingested by L. culpaeus as a source of fiber, it is important to continue this study type in order to increase our understanding of the ecological patterns of the species.
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Copyright (c) 2020 Héctor Cadena-Ortíz, Carmen Ordóñez-Pozo, Efraín Freire, Jorge Brito (Author)
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