Small selective ungulate species differ in habitat use within transformed landscapes of the Overberg, South Africa

The Renosterveld vegetation in the Overberg, Western Cape (South Africa) is listed as critically endangered with more than 80% of Renosterveld transformed for agricultural purposes. Remaining natural vegetation consists mostly of small patches that are situated far apart. The landscape between these patches is filled with agricultural land used for grain crops, vineyards, indigenous flower crops and livestock farming. The remaining patches of natural vegetation is being conserved providing the wildlife in the area with corridors and small protected areas. The objective of this study was to determine how the habitat use of five small specialist browser species are affected by anthropogenic land use. These species were bushbuck (Tragelaphus sylvaticus), Cape grysbok (Rhaphicerus melanotis), common duiker (Sylvicapra grimmia), grey rhebok (Pelea capreolus) and steenbok (Rhaphicerus campestris). To determine which site-specific characteristics were the strongest drivers of habitat use during each season we ran occupancy models using camera trap data and covariate data collected around camera trap sites to run single species, single season occupancy models. The results suggest that some species appear dependent on the anthropogenic landscape, while still relying on the natural vegetation for cover and resources. In contrast, other species however appear to be more dependent on the natural landscape and occasionally use the anthropogenic landscape to their advantage.