科创中国

How territoriality affects the density of an egg predator: Habitat renovation and reintroduction as a method of conserving two endangered desert spring fish

原文链接：万方

• 作者：

  Timothy PACIOREK Layla AL-SHAER Murray ITZKOWITZ

• 摘要：

  Conservation?of?endangered?sympatric?species?must?be?carefully?executed?to?ensure?that?the?protection?of?one?species?does?not?negatively?impact?the?survival?of?another.?Critically?endangered?Pecos?gambusia?Gambusia?nobilis?and?Leon?Springs?pupfish?Cyprinodon?bovinus,?which?are?endemic?to?a?threatened?desert?spring?habitat,?exemplify?one?such?scenario.?Recently,?this?habitat?has?been?expanded,?and?captively?bred?C.?bovinus?were?released?to?repopulate?an?area?historically?known?to?contain?this?species.?A?previous?study?suggested?that?G.?nobilis?are?detrimental?to?C.?bovinus?populations,?due?to?their?tendency?to?congregate?near?spawning?pairs?and?feed?on?their?eggs.?Whether?G.?nobilis?are?attracted?to?territorial?C.?bovinus,?regardless?of?spawning?behavior,?remains?unclear.?To?determine?this,?the?number?of?G.?nobilis?in?occupied?and?unoccupied?breeding?territories?of?both?wild?and?captively?bred?C.?bovinus?was?measured.?Gambusia?nobilis?densities?were?similar?between?unoccupied?and?occupied?territorial?sites,?suggesting?that?they?do?not?show?a?preference?for?C.?bovinus?territories.?Regardless?of?habitat?location?or?prior?captivity,?territorial?C.?bovinus?significantly?excluded?G.?nobilis?within?their?direct?vicinity?(5?cm),?but?not?from?their?entire?territory.?Decreased?G.?nobilis?density?within?the?habitat?may?allow?C.?bovinus?to?defend?their?breeding?territories?more?readily?during?the?summer?spawning?season.?This?study?provides?empirical?evidence?of?captively?raised?individuals?behaving?similarly?to?wild?indi-?viduals?upon?reintroduction?to?their?natural?habitat?and?support?for?conservation?methods?that?focus?on?common?limiting?factors?between?endangered?species?[Current?Zoology?60?(4):?527-533,?2014].

• 关键词：

  濒危物种 保护方法 食蚊鱼 密度 沙漠 捕食者 自然栖息地 产卵行为

• 作者单位：

  Department of Biological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA

• 基金项目：

  Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department for funding this project through a Section6Grant (TX E-150-R), and The Nature Conservancy for allowing us access to the Diamond Y Spring system. Our thanks also go to Matthew Franklin of the Nature Conservancy for his assistance throughout this project. We would like to thank Andrew Black, Andrew Bloch, Zachary Carroll, Lanshi Li, Louise McCallie, and Caroline Rago for their assistance with project formation and data collection. We would also like to thank Martin Richter for his assistance with statistical analyses. This project was also supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through their Biosystems Dynamics Summer Institute program.

• 来源期刊：

  动物学报(英文版)

• 年，卷(期)：

  2014004