Habitat selection and interspecific competition in rodents in pampean agroecosystems

We analyzed the effect of density-dependent habitat selection and interspecific competition on the use of space by small rodent species in agroecosystems. We studied rodent abundance in cropfields and their borders, weedy margins less disturbed by agricultural activities. We could distinguish two kind of species: those habitat intolerants, Akodon azarae and Oligoryzomys flavescens, which select the borders, and those habitat tolerants, Calomys laucha and Calomys musculinus. The two most abundant species in the community, A. azarae and C. Laucha, differ in their habitat use: while the first has a clear preference for borders, the other is more equally distributed between habitats, although it is more abundant in fields. Both species show a shift towards an increased use of fields via density-dependent habitat selection with increasing abundance at some moments of the year. C. musculinus does not show habitat preference in any season, overlaping with the other species in both habitats. There is an interspecific effect on habitat use between A. azarae and C. laucha : While the first species cause a shift in habitat preference of C. laucha towards fields, this latter species affects the density-dependent habitat use of A. azarae. It is concluded that the pattern of habitat use of the studied species is affected by their differential preferences as well as by intra and interspecific density-dependent processes that change seasonally. ; Fil:Busch, M. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. ; Fil:Cittadino, E.A. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. ; Fil:Kravetz, F.O. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina.