SPACING PATTERN AND HABITAT SELECTION OF THE WEASEL (MUSTELA NIVALIS) IN AGRICULTURAL FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPE

摘要: We present a study on the spacing pattern of a population of weasels in Central Italy. This pattern is described both at a level of generic space and at a level of habitat, meant as a set of vegetational and environmental features. The study area is a typical agricultural landscape, supporting highly fragmented natural habitat modified by thousands of years of human presence and work. The results indicate that individual home ranges varied from non-breeding to breeding season, and show strong preference for habitats formed by the edges between fields and meadows. The shapes of the individual home ranges follow these edges, producing a typical linear form. In particular, home range areas of both sexes are similar during winter, but during the warm season males increase their movements and the extension of the tracts they cross, which results in home range areas up to ten times larger. Our results confirm the hypothesis of an intra-sexual spacing pattern in solitary and small mustelids; moreover, they indicate high specialization in spacing pattern with a strong selection for residual high covered habitat.