Detection histories for Lycalopex griseus, Lycalopex culpaeus, Leopardus guigna, and Canis familiaris and habitat destruction covariate data for Los Lagos Chile (2019)

In an increasingly anthropogenic world, species face multiple interacting threats. Habitat fragmentation and domestic dogs are two perturbations threatening terrestrial mammals globally. Our aim was to determine if (1) the spatial use of domestic dogs increases with habitat destruction and (2) whether domestic dogs and habitat destruction drive the spatial use of native carnivores in a heavily degraded agricultural landscape in the central valley/Andean foothills transition of Los Lagos, Chile.

We implemented a camera trap survey in a fragmented landscape comprised of native forest patches amidst a matrix of pastureland. We used single-species occupancy models to assess the impact of domestic dogs and habitat destruction on three mesocarnivores – the foxes, culpeo (Lycalopex culpaeus) and chilla (Lycalopex griseus) and the wild cat güiña (Leopardus guigna). Additionally, we compared temporal overlap of all study species (including domestic dogs).

Detection rates for both the foxes...