‘Interactions between endangered autochthonous species, exotic herbivores and visitors in protected areas of Argentine arid Woodland. Implications for conservation and management guidelines’

Begoña Peco Vázquez, Carlos Eduardo Borghi, Claudia Mónica Campos, Juan Esteban Malo Arrázola, Juan Traba Díaz, Stella Maris Giannoni.

The idea is to characterise interactions between herbivores based on studies of habitat overlap, diet and the availability of resources, and conduct coproparasitological analyses to evaluate the possible transmission of inflections from allochthonous to autochthonous species. Attention will also be dedicated to the behavioural changes induced by introduced species (the donkey) on autochthonous ones (the guanaco). Changes taking place in animal-plant interactions will be analysed in a comparative study of plant consumption-depredation processes with special emphasis on reproductive attributes. Also considered will be the influence of sporadic tourist use on the behavioural changes of the guanaco, a herbivore of great conservation interest.