Meliquina Valley
Basic information
Sample name: Meliquina Valley

Reference: M. V. Lantschner, V. Rusch, and J. P. Hayes. 2013. Do exotic pine plantations favour the spread of invasive herbivorous mammals in Patagonia?. Austral Ecology 38(3):338-345 [ER 3384]
Geography
Country: Argentina

State: Neuquén



Coordinate: 40° 28' S, 71° 13' W
Coordinate basis: stated in text

Geography comments: "We conducted this study in the Meliquina Valley, northwest Patagonia, Argentina. The study area consists of two north–south-orientated intermountain valleys (Meliquina, Filo Huaum – Caleufu rivers), with steep, stony mountain slopes and narrow floodplains. Elevations range from 800 to 2000 m."

Environment
Habitat: temperate broadleaf/mixed forest

Altered habitat: plantation

Protection: unprotected

Substrate: ground surface

Disturbance: fire suppression,agriculture,grazing,invasive animals,invasive plants

WMT: 17.1

CMT: 4.0

MAP: 1100.0

Habitat comments: "Native vegetation in the study area consists of a transition between forest and arid steppe, dominated by bunchgrasses, low shrubs, and sparse patches of woodlands"
"Climate is temperate to cold, with maximum and minimum annual average temperatures of 17.1 ± 0.5°C and 4 ± 2.1°C, respectively. Mean annual rainfall ranges between 800 and 1400 mm"
"Area has been grazed since the beginning of the 20th century. Cattle are stocked at low densities and range freely over extensive areas with no fencing enclosures"
"The area holds some of the most extensive forest plantations in the region, with approximately 4350 ha planted primarily with ponderosa pine"
"These occur along the slopes and bottom of the river valleys (between 800 and 1200 m a.s.l.), distributed in stands of about 15–25 ha separated from one another by open strips, 30–35 m in width, designed to act as firebreaks"

Methods
Life forms: ungulates,other small mammals

Sampling methods: no design,automatic cameras

Sample size: 503 captures or sightings

Years: 2007 - 2010

Days: 360

Seasons: summer,autumn

Nets or traps: 69

Net or trap nights: 8633

Camera type: digital

Cameras paired: no

Sampling comments: "We established a total of 69 sampling stations in native vegetation, pine plantations, and firebreaks"
"We randomly selected 30 sampling stations with native vegetation cover, ... managed using traditional cattle grazing", ... 29 sampling stations within ponderosa pine plantations, ... and 10 sites in firebreaks"
"Each sampling station consisted of one camera trap, ... separated from one another by a minimum of 1 km"
"We used 32 Leaf River Trail Scan Model C-1 and four Cuddeback Digital Scouting units, consisting of a camera armed with an infrared sensor programmed to shoot when temperature changes"
"We set stations to be active at night (from 8.00 hours to 20.00 hours), including dusk and dawn, which is the period when species are most active"
"We sampled from December to April in 2007–2008, 2008–2009, and 2009–2010"
"Each year we deployed 30 randomly selected stations during each of two 60-day sampling periods. Each sampling station was active for two 60-day periods each year"
"Over the course of our study we sampled 3745 trap-days in native vegetation, 3618 trap-days in pine plantation, and 1270 trap-days in firebreaks" (for a total of 8633 trap-days)

Metadata
Sample number: 3758

Contributor: Benjamin Carter

Enterer: Benjamin Carter

Created: 2021-06-05 14:31:38

Modified: 2021-06-10 01:17:02

Abundance distribution
3 species
0 singletons
total count 503
geometric series index: 3.0
Fisher's α: 0.424
geometric series k: 0.7865
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.6525
Shannon's H: 1.0771
Good's u: 1.0000
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
Register
Cervus elaphus189142 kg browser-grazer
Sus scrofa12054 kg herbivore
Lepus europaeus1943.4 kg herbivore