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Interference Competition between Wild and Domestic Ungulates at Watering Sites of Gobi Desert, Mongolia

  • SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF ARID TERRITORIES
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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.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank the government of Bayan Ovoo district for assisting us in the field. We thank the Small Gobi-A Special Protected Area administration, and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for their support.

We thank Mr. Batkhuyag (Wildlife Initiative) for his contribution to data collection. We are also grateful to the Department of Ecology and Evolution of the University of Lausanne that supplied some of the camera traps and to Munkhoyon Suvarga who provided fundings.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Wildlife Initiative, Department of Research and Conservation, 31040, Pederobba, Italy

      Francesco Raimondi, Davide Sogliani, Marta Cimini & Luciano Atzeni

    2. University of Pavia, Department of Biology and Biotechnology, 27100, Pavia, Italy

      Davide Sogliani

    3. Services for Ecosystems and Agroforestry and Environmental Activities, 10122, Torino, Italy

      Marta Cimini

    4. Wildlife Initiative Bayangol District, 210349, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

      Claudio Augugliaro

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    1. Francesco Raimondi
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    FR and DS wrote the first draft; DS analyzed data and produced figures; MC conducted the GIS analysis and produced figures; CA conceived and supervised the research and acquired funding. CA and LA revised and edited the first draft.

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    Correspondence to Davide Sogliani.

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    Raimondi, F., Sogliani, D., Cimini, M. et al. Interference Competition between Wild and Domestic Ungulates at Watering Sites of Gobi Desert, Mongolia. Arid Ecosyst 13, 305–313 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079096123030101

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