Effect of diet on mass loss of bobcat scat after exposure to field conditions
2005; Wiley; Volume: 33; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2193/0091-7648(2005)33[149
ISSN1938-5463
AutoresIvy A. Godbois, L. Mike Conner, Bruce D. Leopold, Robert J. Warren,
Tópico(s)Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
ResumoAbstract Many studies have related estimates of predator diet to prey detectability in scats, but no studies have examined effects of diet on deterioration of scat in the field and the ability to recognize the species depositing the scat. Scats from captive bobcats (Lynx rufus) fed 1 of 3 diets—(mice [Mus musculus] and rats [Rattus norvegicus], rabbit [Oryctolagus cuniculus], and deer [Odocoileus virginianus])—were used to determine the effect of prey species on the integrity of an exposed scat. Diet affected (P 0.05) to mass loss of scats containing rabbit, but mass loss of scats containing deer was greater (P<0.05) than scat containing mice and rats or rabbit. If mass loss of scat reduces the ability of biologists to identify the species depositing the scat, those scats that lose mass at a faster rate would become unidentifiable sooner. These scats would then not be collected or would not be included in predator-specif...
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