Behavioural adaptations of molina’s hog-nosed skunk to the conversion of natural grasslands into croplands in the Argentine Pampas

Abstract

Anthropogenic habitat modification is one of the most serious threats to global biodiversity, and in areas with a high urbanization level and agricultural activities, habitat loss and fragmentation are virtually inevitable. An example of this occurs in the Pampas grassland of Argentina, which is the most densely populated and most degraded region in the country. In this chapter, we explore how the behavioural ecology of the little-studied Molina’s hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus chinga, has been affected by agricultural activities. We review the recent advances in the ecology and natural history of this mephitid and compare data collected in two grassland areas under different land uses. Information on home range characteristics, movement patterns, habitat use and selection, denning behaviour, and activity patterns was obtained by radiotracking skunks in a protected area (7 individuals) and a cropland area (9 individuals). Feeding ecology was also studied through the analysis of faecal samples and estimation of prey abundance. Our results confirmed that C. chinga is mainly a solitary carnivore. The home range size is greater in males than in females, the spatial overlap is largely limited to intersexual dyads, and burrows are not communal. In the Pampas grassland of Argentina, this mephitid is a nocturnal, selective predator of insects, lacking clear sexual dimorphism. That C. chinga selected for habitat patches with natural vegetation and predictable, abundant prey, and that its activity was strictly nocturnal in unprotected croplands, suggests that prey abundance and secure denning sites are important factors affecting its behavioural ecology. We conclude that although C. chinga is somewhat adaptable to human-modified landscapes, the loss of native grasslands is likely affecting the abundance of its populations in the present-day Argentine Pampas.