When the Evidence Points to the Non-Invasive Nature of an Allegedly Invasive Alien Species : The Case of the Aoudad in Mainland Spain
Cassinello, Jorge (Spanish National Research Council. Experimental Station of Arid Zones)
Albanell Trullas, Elena (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Eguía, Sergio (Mendijob S.L.)
Roverso, Andrea (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
San Miguel, Alfonso (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Departamento de Sistemas y Recursos Naturales)
Bartolomé, Jordi (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)

Data:	2025
Resum:	This study compares the feeding habits of two wild mountain-dwelling herbivores: the aoudad (Ammotragus lervia) and the Iberian ibex (Capra pyrenaica), in the mountains of southeastern Spain. In some mountain ranges within the study area, populations of both species coexist, while in others, only one of the two is present. This has allowed us to conduct a comparative study depending on whether they share the same space or not. Understanding how they share food resources is important for managing natural areas, especially when one of the species, the aoudad, is not native to the region. The results showed that aoudads mainly eat grasses and other herbaceous plants, while Iberian ibexes prefer shrubs. However, when both species live together, ibexes eat more herbaceous plants than usual, and in summer, aoudads increase their intake of woody plants. These differences in diet suggest that both species can coexist in the same environment if there is enough food available. These findings offer valuable information to understand aoudad feeding habits and their potential competition for resources with the native Iberian ibex, and thus empirically clarify whether their ecological role can certainly be considered invasive, an essential issue for proper management of their populations. Here we reveal a first comparative analysis of the use of food resources of wild populations of the aoudad Ammotragus lervia and the Iberian ibex Capra pyrenaica, both in sympatric and allopatric conditions. The study was carried out in the southeastern mountains of the Iberian Peninsula, in the Murcia region. Our results show that the aoudad preferentially behaves as a grazer herbivore, the herbaceous component being present in its diet by 57%. The ibex, on the contrary, shows a 63% preference for shrubs. When in sympatry, the ibex shows a comparatively higher incidence on the herbaceous stratum. In summer, the aoudad's consumption of woody species increases. The differences observed in the feeding behavior of ibexes and aoudads most probably make their joint presence in the study mountainous ecosystems compatible, provided sufficient resources are available. Ecological implications and management proposals are discussed in the context of alien species management.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Matèria:	Alien species ; Ammotragus ; Biodiversity conservation ; Biological invasions ; Ecological knowledge ; Invasive species ; Restoration ecology ; Trophic ecology ; Vacant niches ; Wildlife
Publicat a:	Animals, Vol. 15 (september 2025) , ISSN 2076-2615

DOI: 10.3390/ani15182683
PMID: 41007928

13 p, 1.2 MB

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