Habitat use at fine spatial scale: how does patch clustering criteria explain the use of meadows by red deer?
Habitat use at fine spatial scale: how does patch clustering criteria explain the use of meadows by red deer?
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精细空间尺度的栖息地利用：斑块聚类标准如何解释马鹿对草地的使用？
DOI：
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发表时间：
2012
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
F. Rego
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
A. Bellu;M. Bugalho;T. Monteiro‐Henriques;J. Costa;F. Rego
大型哺乳动物是不同生态系统的关键物种。为了调节大型哺乳动物对生态系统的影响，了解它们的栖息地选择模式至关重要。在更细的尺度上，草食动物斑块选择强烈地依赖于植物群落特征，因此它的理解受到斑块定义标准的限制。我们的目的是评估补丁定义的标准最好地解释了使用草地的野生，自由放养，红鹿（马鹿）在葡萄牙东北部的研究领域。我们使用了两个聚类标准类型的基础上，植物区系组成和总饲料类，分别。在区系分类标准方面，采用植物社会学方法对植物群落进行分类，并通过区系相关性的数学聚类分析评价其客观性。覆盖的优势植物物种进行了测试，作为代理的植物社会学方法。对于粗饲料类，禾本科/杂类草的比例和百分比覆盖豆科植物。为了评估鹿相对使用草地，我们使用粪便积累率。根据植物区系分类聚类的斑块更好地解释了鹿对斑块的选择。植物群落分类的基础上，植物社会学，或代理这一点，用于表征草甸斑块，导致有用的了解草食动物选择模式在细尺度上，从而可能适合于协助野生动物管理决策。
Large mammalian herbivores are keystone species in different ecosystems. To mediate the effects of large mammalian herbivores on ecosystems, it is crucial to understand their habitat selection pattern. At finer scales, herbivore patch selection depends strongly on plant community traits and therefore its understanding is constrained by patch definition criteria. Our aim was to assess which criteria for patch definition best explained use of meadows by wild, free-ranging, red deer (Cervus elaphus) in a study area in Northeast Portugal. We used two clustering criteria types based on floristic composition and gross forage classes, respectively. For the floristic criteria, phytosociological approach was used to classify plant communities, and its objectivity evaluated with a mathematical clustering of the floristic relevés. Cover of dominant plant species was tested as a proxy for the phytosociological method. For the gross forage classes, the graminoids/forbs ratio and the percentage cover of legumes were used. For assessing deer relative use of meadows we used faecal accumulation rates. Patches clustered according to floristic classification better explained selection of patches by deer. Plant community classifications based on phytosociology, or proxies of this, used for characterizing meadow patches resulted useful to understand herbivore selection pattern at fine scales and thus potentially suitable to assist wildlife management decisions.