Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina

The role of mesocarnivores in wildlife communities tends to be overlooked, which has led to a large gap in natural history knowledge. In northeastern Argentina, two mesocarnivore foxes, Cerdocyon thous and Lycalopex gymnocercus, live in sympatry in noncompetitive coexistence. Their feeding habits...

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Autores principales: Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo, Romero, Verónica Lorena, Natalini, María Belen, Kowalewski, Miguel Martin
Formato: Artículo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Zoological Society of London 2026
Materias:
Canidae
Competition
Cerdocyon thous
Diet composition
Lycalopex gymnocercus
Sympatry
Mesocarnivore
Acceso en línea:http://repositorio.unne.edu.ar/handle/123456789/60039
Aporte de:
RIUNNE - Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE) de Universidad Nacional del Nordeste
id I48-R184-123456789-60039
record_format dspace
spelling I48-R184-123456789-600392026-02-13T10:39:54Z Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo Romero, Verónica Lorena Natalini, María Belen Kowalewski, Miguel Martin Canidae Competition Cerdocyon thous Diet composition Lycalopex gymnocercus Sympatry Mesocarnivore The role of mesocarnivores in wildlife communities tends to be overlooked, which has led to a large gap in natural history knowledge. In northeastern Argentina, two mesocarnivore foxes, Cerdocyon thous and Lycalopex gymnocercus, live in sympatry in noncompetitive coexistence. Their feeding habits have been studied in many occasions; however, the studies related to trophic variability in a wider spatial scale remain scarce. In this study, we aimed to analyze how the diet of these foxes varies in three protected areas in Argentina: the Mburucuya National Park (MNP), the “San Nicolas Portal ́ ” (SN), and the Natural Reserve Rincon de Santa María (RSM). We collected fecal samples in each area, identified them using thin layer chromatography at species level, and classified the found feeding items to obtained two parameters: occurrence and relative frequency. Furthermore, we compared the diet of the two species in each site and between sites using chi-square and estimated trophic niche breadth and overlap between the species. We found that both species consumed different food categories, with variable frequencies across study sites. We observed that in each area, the foxes differed in diet composition. However, we found no differences between the diet compositions of C. thous and L. gymnocercus, showing high niche overlap in each site. Here, we show the plasticity of both fox species in changing their diets even with small geographical variation. Both species can coexist even with a high diet overlap, possibly explained by their noncompetitive coexistence which may occur due to the current changes in the ecosystem interactions, or partitioning may exist but on a smaller niche level. 2026-02-12T18:24:58Z 2026-02-12T18:24:58Z 2024-11-18 Artículo Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo, et al., 2024. Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina. Journal of Zoology. Londres: Zoological Society of London, vol. 325, no. 3, p. 233-241. ISSN 1469-7998. http://repositorio.unne.edu.ar/handle/123456789/60039 eng https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.13239 closedAccess http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/ application/pdf p. 233-241 application/pdf Zoological Society of London Journal of Zoology, 2024, vol. 325, no. 3, p. 233-241
institution Universidad Nacional del Nordeste
institution_str I-48
repository_str R-184
collection RIUNNE - Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad Nacional del Nordeste (UNNE)
language Inglés
topic Canidae
Competition
Cerdocyon thous
Diet composition
Lycalopex gymnocercus
Sympatry
Mesocarnivore
spellingShingle Canidae
Competition
Cerdocyon thous
Diet composition
Lycalopex gymnocercus
Sympatry
Mesocarnivore
Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo
Romero, Verónica Lorena
Natalini, María Belen
Kowalewski, Miguel Martin
Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina
topic_facet Canidae
Competition
Cerdocyon thous
Diet composition
Lycalopex gymnocercus
Sympatry
Mesocarnivore
description The role of mesocarnivores in wildlife communities tends to be overlooked, which has led to a large gap in natural history knowledge. In northeastern Argentina, two mesocarnivore foxes, Cerdocyon thous and Lycalopex gymnocercus, live in sympatry in noncompetitive coexistence. Their feeding habits have been studied in many occasions; however, the studies related to trophic variability in a wider spatial scale remain scarce. In this study, we aimed to analyze how the diet of these foxes varies in three protected areas in Argentina: the Mburucuya National Park (MNP), the “San Nicolas Portal ́ ” (SN), and the Natural Reserve Rincon de Santa María (RSM). We collected fecal samples in each area, identified them using thin layer chromatography at species level, and classified the found feeding items to obtained two parameters: occurrence and relative frequency. Furthermore, we compared the diet of the two species in each site and between sites using chi-square and estimated trophic niche breadth and overlap between the species. We found that both species consumed different food categories, with variable frequencies across study sites. We observed that in each area, the foxes differed in diet composition. However, we found no differences between the diet compositions of C. thous and L. gymnocercus, showing high niche overlap in each site. Here, we show the plasticity of both fox species in changing their diets even with small geographical variation. Both species can coexist even with a high diet overlap, possibly explained by their noncompetitive coexistence which may occur due to the current changes in the ecosystem interactions, or partitioning may exist but on a smaller niche level.
format Artículo
author Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo
Romero, Verónica Lorena
Natalini, María Belen
Kowalewski, Miguel Martin
author_facet Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo
Romero, Verónica Lorena
Natalini, María Belen
Kowalewski, Miguel Martin
author_sort Bay Jouliá, Rodrigo
title Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina
title_short Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina
title_full Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina
title_fullStr Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern Argentina
title_sort feeding ecology of two wild sympatric canids in protected areas of northeastern argentina
publisher Zoological Society of London
publishDate 2026
url http://repositorio.unne.edu.ar/handle/123456789/60039
work_keys_str_mv AT bayjouliarodrigo feedingecologyoftwowildsympatriccanidsinprotectedareasofnortheasternargentina
AT romeroveronicalorena feedingecologyoftwowildsympatriccanidsinprotectedareasofnortheasternargentina
AT natalinimariabelen feedingecologyoftwowildsympatriccanidsinprotectedareasofnortheasternargentina
AT kowalewskimiguelmartin feedingecologyoftwowildsympatriccanidsinprotectedareasofnortheasternargentina
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