EUROPEAN RABBITS VERSUS NATIVE RODENTS IN CENTRAL CHILE - EFFECTS ON SHRUB SEEDLINGS
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Date
1983
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Abstract
The importance of the introduced rabbit Ooryctolagus cunicueus and of the native rodent Octodon degus (= degu) as browsers of shrub seedlings in the central Chilean evergreen shrublands (-matorral) was experimentally assessed. Seedlings were planted in several spatial arrangements in 2 open successional stands and in 2 mature stands of different cover and exposure. The browsing impact of rabbits and degus was evaluated separately after .apprx. 1 yr since the start of the experiments. Degus cause important seedling mortality only within a 5 m-radius centered at the border of their retreats. Rabbits cause heavier seedling mortality, forage more widely and, consequently, have a greater impact than do degus. Rabbits may be halting the secondary succession process, shifting the matorral composition toward less palatable shrub species, and/or broadening the spacing between shrub clumps.