Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models

Organic farming is more environmentally friendly than conventional agriculture, promoting greater levels of habitat heterogeneity. Field borders could be more suitable for biodiversity in agricultural anthromes. Small mammals are crucial in these anthromes due to their contribution to food webs an...

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Main Authors: Gómez, María Daniela, Goijman, Andrea Paula, Coda, José Antonio, Serafini, Vanesa N., Priotto, Jose Waldemar
Format: info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo
Language:Inglés
Published: Ecological Society of Australia 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2862
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aec.12625
https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12625
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author Gómez, María Daniela
Goijman, Andrea Paula
Coda, José Antonio
Serafini, Vanesa N.
Priotto, Jose Waldemar
author_browse Coda, José Antonio
Goijman, Andrea Paula
Gómez, María Daniela
Priotto, Jose Waldemar
Serafini, Vanesa N.
author_facet Gómez, María Daniela
Goijman, Andrea Paula
Coda, José Antonio
Serafini, Vanesa N.
Priotto, Jose Waldemar
author_sort Gómez, María Daniela
collection INTA Digital
description Organic farming is more environmentally friendly than conventional agriculture, promoting greater levels of habitat heterogeneity. Field borders could be more suitable for biodiversity in agricultural anthromes. Small mammals are crucial in these anthromes due to their contribution to food webs and seed consumption. We used hierarchical multi-season occupancy models to assess the effect of organic versus conventional farming on multiple small mammal species in agricultural anthromes of central Argentina. We modelled detectability and increased precision of estimates, overcoming deficiencies of previous studies. Small mammals were seasonally surveyed in 70 field borders (conventional) and 63 (organic) during two years. We were able to include less frequent specialist species, detecting a positive relationship with organic management possibly because of higher habitat quality of borders. Vegetation volume was the most important explanatory variable in both managements. Species’ richness was greater under organic management mainly in spring when the habitat quality differences with conventional management were the greatest. Spring is key for the rodent assemblage because of the beginning of reproductive period, when resource demand is important. We suggest that maintaining high quality border habitats, as those supported by organic management, could allow farmers to obtain economic profit while also contributing to biodiversity conservation. Considering the positive role that native rodents may have in some agricultural anthromes, the maintenance of high population numbers may be important for biodiversity conservation. The approach used in this study shows the importance of modelling imperfect detection, reducing bias in parameter estimates, and it should be implemented in similar studies.
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institution Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA -Argentina)
language Inglés
publishDate 2018
publishDateRange 2018
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spelling INTA28622021-09-27T14:00:51Z Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models Gómez, María Daniela Goijman, Andrea Paula Coda, José Antonio Serafini, Vanesa N. Priotto, Jose Waldemar Habitat Agroecosistemas Mamíferos Prácticas Agrícolas Agricultura Orgánica Organic Agriculture Agricultural Practices Mammals Agroecosystems Small Mammals Border Habitats Mamíferos Pequeños Argentina Organic farming is more environmentally friendly than conventional agriculture, promoting greater levels of habitat heterogeneity. Field borders could be more suitable for biodiversity in agricultural anthromes. Small mammals are crucial in these anthromes due to their contribution to food webs and seed consumption. We used hierarchical multi-season occupancy models to assess the effect of organic versus conventional farming on multiple small mammal species in agricultural anthromes of central Argentina. We modelled detectability and increased precision of estimates, overcoming deficiencies of previous studies. Small mammals were seasonally surveyed in 70 field borders (conventional) and 63 (organic) during two years. We were able to include less frequent specialist species, detecting a positive relationship with organic management possibly because of higher habitat quality of borders. Vegetation volume was the most important explanatory variable in both managements. Species’ richness was greater under organic management mainly in spring when the habitat quality differences with conventional management were the greatest. Spring is key for the rodent assemblage because of the beginning of reproductive period, when resource demand is important. We suggest that maintaining high quality border habitats, as those supported by organic management, could allow farmers to obtain economic profit while also contributing to biodiversity conservation. Considering the positive role that native rodents may have in some agricultural anthromes, the maintenance of high population numbers may be important for biodiversity conservation. The approach used in this study shows the importance of modelling imperfect detection, reducing bias in parameter estimates, and it should be implemented in similar studies. Instituto de Recursos Biológicos Fil: Gomez, Maria Daniela. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología Comportamental y Poblacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Goijman, Andrea Paula. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Recursos Biológicos; Argentina Fil: Coda, José Antonio. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología Comportamental y Poblacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Serafini, Vanesa. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología Comportamental y Poblacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Priotto, Jose Waldemar. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Departamento de Ciencias Naturales. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología Comportamental y Poblacional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina 2018-07-24T13:25:00Z 2018-07-24T13:25:00Z 2018-08 info:ar-repo/semantics/artículo info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2862 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aec.12625 1442-9993 https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12625 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess application/pdf Argentina (nation) Ecological Society of Australia Austral ecology 43 (5). (August 2018)
spellingShingle Habitat
Agroecosistemas
Mamíferos
Prácticas Agrícolas
Agricultura Orgánica
Organic Agriculture
Agricultural Practices
Mammals
Agroecosystems
Small Mammals
Border Habitats
Mamíferos Pequeños
Argentina
Gómez, María Daniela
Goijman, Andrea Paula
Coda, José Antonio
Serafini, Vanesa N.
Priotto, Jose Waldemar
Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models
title Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models
title_full Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models
title_fullStr Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models
title_full_unstemmed Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models
title_short Small mammal responses to farming practices in central Argentinian agroecosystems: the use of hierarchical occupancy models
title_sort small mammal responses to farming practices in central argentinian agroecosystems the use of hierarchical occupancy models
topic Habitat
Agroecosistemas
Mamíferos
Prácticas Agrícolas
Agricultura Orgánica
Organic Agriculture
Agricultural Practices
Mammals
Agroecosystems
Small Mammals
Border Habitats
Mamíferos Pequeños
Argentina
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/2862
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aec.12625
https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12625
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