Abstract

Desertification processes in Central Asia are largely dependent on soil degradation induced by excessive livestock grazing, besides climate changes. Desertification represents a threat to wildlife species living in arid environments, since reduced accessibility to water strongly affects their distribution and behavior. Moreover, livestock presence exacerbates competition with wildlife for scarce water resources. Given their crucial importance to wildlife persistence, water sources in arid environments are critical to the study of wildlife behavior and interspecific competition. The Small Gobi A is one such environment of Mongolia, characterized by high grazing pressure despite low human presence. Between September and October 2017, we conducted camera trapping surveys at two waterholes identified as potential drinking sources for wildlife. We aimed to explore the spatio-temporal interactions among large domestic ungulates (e.g., Bactrian camel Camelus bactrianus), and wild ungulates (e.g., Asian wild ass Equus hemionus, and goitered gazelle Gazella subgutturosa), which are among the most iconic and threatened ungulates of Mongolia. The results showed a complete spatial segregation between domestic and wild ungulates, and a high temporal segregation among wild ungulates. This study confirms spatial and temporal niche partitioning as a strategy adopted by wild species to reduce competition and allow species coexistence. We recommend enhanced management measures of free-roaming livestock to reduce the pressure on wild species at drinking sites.

中文翻译：

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蒙古戈壁沙漠饮水点野生与家养有蹄类动物的干扰竞争

摘要

除了气候变化之外，中亚的荒漠化过程在很大程度上取决于过度放牧牲畜引起的土壤退化。荒漠化对生​​活在干旱环境中的野生动物物种构成威胁，因为获取水源的减少严重影响了它们的分布和行为。此外，牲畜的存在加剧了与野生动物对稀缺水资源的竞争。鉴于干旱环境中的水源对野生动物的生存至关重要，因此对于野生动物行为和种间竞争的研究至关重要。小戈壁 A 就是蒙古的此类环境之一，其特点是尽管人类活动较少，但放牧压力却很大。2017 年 9 月至 10 月期间，我们对两个被确定为野生动物潜在饮用水源的水坑进行了相机陷阱调查。例如，双峰驼（Camelus bactrianus）和野生有蹄类动物（例如，亚洲野驴Equus hemionus和甲状腺肿瞪羚Gazella subgutturosa），它们是蒙古最具代表性和受威胁的有蹄类动物。结果表明，家养和野生有蹄类动物之间存在完全的空间隔离，野生有蹄类动物之间存在高度的时间隔离。这项研究证实了时空生态位划分是野生物种采取的一种策略，以减少竞争并允许物种共存。我们建议加强对散养牲畜的管理措施，以减少对饮水点野生物种的压力。