Institut für Biologie der Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Date of this Version
2012
Document Type
Article
Citation
Erforschung biologischer Ressourcen der Mongolei (2012) band 12: 93-104.
Abstract
Red (Vulpes vulpes) and corsac foxes (V. corsac) live sympatrically throughout most of Mongolia, but few details of their home range characteristics exist. We captured and radio-tagged 13 red fox (♂ = 5, ♀ = 8) and 15 corsac foxes (♂ = 8, ♀ = 7) between 2004 and 2008. We tracked their movements to estimate home range sizes and examined the effects of four factors on home range size, including sex, age, season, and year. We determined mean home range size for 12 red and 10 corsac foxes that had sufficient data using fixed kernel methods. Mean home range size (90 % kernel) was 15.4 ± 2.2 SE km2 for red foxes and 4.5 ± 0.8 SE km2 for corsac foxes. Core areas within home ranges (50 % kernels) averaged 3.59 ± 0.68 km2 for red foxes and 1.43 ± 0.32 km2 for corsac foxes. Home ranges varied by sex, age, season, and year for both species and we found significant effects of sex among corsacs, with males occupying larger ranges than females; age among red foxes, with adults occupying larger ranges than yearlings; and year among red fox home ranges. We believe that resource availability probably influenced patterns of home range variability along with the significant variables we found. Our results provide among the first quantitative estimates of red and corsac fox home range size in Mongolia and a baseline for developing management and conservation actions.
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Environmental Sciences Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, Other Animal Sciences Commons
Comments
Copyright 2012, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle Wittenberg, Halle (Saale). Used by permission.