tailieunhanh - WILDLIFE SCIENCE: LINKING ECOLOGICAL THEORY AND MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS - CHAPTER 8

Một phần lớn trong số 36 loài mèo hoang dã nhỏ felids sinh sống ở nhiều môi trường sống và biomes (Sunquist và Sunquist 2002) với ngoại lệ của các linh miêu Lynx Rufus NorthAmerica (Lariviere andWalton 1997) và lynx (Lynx spp.) Ở Bắc bán cầu (Anderson và Lovallo 2003), mèo nhỏ nhất đã nhận được rất ít nghiên cứu sinh thái. Thông thường, nghiên cứu trước đây trên Lynx spp. đã được thời gian ngắn và hạn chế bởi nhiều yếu tố. Những yếu tố này bao gồm nonrepresentative động vật hoặc quần thể nghiên cứu theo dõi trên một khu vực địa lý. | 8 Effects of Drought on Bobcats and Ocelots Michael E. Tewes and Maurice G. Hornocker CONTENTS Prey Decline with Drought. 124 Rodents. 124 Rabbits. 125 Cats Decline with Drought. 126 Ocelot and Drought. 128 Drought Strategies for Ocelot Management. 129 Management of Prey Habitat. 130 Competitor Removal. 132 Prey Supplementation . 132 Ocelot Habitat Restoration . 133 Acknowledgments . 134 References . 134 A majority of the 36 species of wild cats are small felids that inhabit a wide variety of habitats and biomes Sunquist and Sunquist 2002 . With the exception of the bobcat Lynx rufus in North America Lariviere and Walton 1997 and lynx Lynx spp. in the northern hemisphere Anderson and Lovallo 2003 most small cats have received little ecological research. Typically previous research on Lynx spp. has been short duration and constrained by many factors. These factors include nonrepresentative study animals or populations monitored over a confined geographic area under a limited array of environmental states. Conducting long-term field studies with large sample sizes of free-ranging wild cats that encompass the various temporal spatial and environmental elements typical of complex ecological systems is difficult and expensive. Experiments with replications are even more difficult to design and conduct with most secretive nocturnal felids that occur at low densities in dense cover. Consequently we often are forced to make critical management decisions based on uncertain or incomplete information. Optimal foraging theory can help researchers understand foraging patterns of wild cats particularly patterns associated with varying prey availability. Natural selection favors individuals with the highest fitness thus maximizing efficiency in prey acquisition is important in contributing to reproductive success. By hunting efficiently a wild cat has more time for other important activities related to fitness including identifying and defending optimal habitat mating and .