Using presence signs to discriminate between similar species  

作　　者：Sara M.SANTOS António P.MIRA Maria Luz MATHIAS 

机构地区：[1]Centre of Environmental Biology,Department of Animal Biology,University of Lisbon,Lisbon,Portugal and [2]Institute of Mediterranean Agricultural Sciences,Department of Biology,University ofévora,évora,Portugal

出　　处：《Integrative Zoology》2009年第3期258-264,共7页整合动物学（英文版）

基　　金：support was provided by Funda玢o para a Ciência e Tecnologia(SAPIENS Project POCI/BIA-BDE/57053/2004 and a PhD grant PRAXIS/SFRH/BD/21403/2005).

摘　　要：The Lusitanian and the Mediterranean pine voles(Microtus lusitanicus Gerbe,1879 and Microtus duodecimcostatus de Selys-Longchamps,1839)are fossorial sister species and have an allopatric pattern of distribution in Portugal,which includes a potential sympatry area in the centre of the country.The present study aimed to determine the validity of using presence signs in the field for discrimination of the two species in an area of sympatry(Northern Alentejo)and the characteristics that achieve the best classification accuracy.A total of 175 trapping plots were sampled across the study area.Prior to the set up of traps,ten presence signs were randomly selected for measure-ments of four variables:proportion of soil mounds,mean diameter of mounds,proportion of burrow openings and mean diameter of burrow openings.On the basis of a classification tree analysis,results showed that presence signs can be used to discriminate plots inhabited by one or the other species in the studied sympatry area.The character-istic that most accurately enables species identification is the proportion of burrow openings:for every ten pres-ence signs found in a plot,if more than eight have an opening,then it is inhabited by M.lusitanicus(i.e.mostly burrow openings with few or no mounds present);if eight or fewer have an opening,M.duodecimcostatus is present(i.e.mostly mounds with few or no burrow openings).

关 键 词：Microtus duodecimcostatus Microtus lusitanicus presence signs species identification. 

分 类 号：F42[经济管理—产业经济]