Impact of anthropogenic pressures on wild mammals of Northern Portugal

Vet World Vol.13 December-2020 Article-15

Research Article

Veterinary World, 13(12): 2691-2702

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2020.2691-2702

Andreia Garcês¹, Isabel Pires^2,3, Fernando Pacheco⁴, Luís Sanches Fernandes¹, Vanessa Soeiro⁵, Sara Lóio⁵, Justina Prada^2,3, Rui Cortes¹, and Felisbina Queiroga^1,2

1. Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
2. Department of Veterinary Science, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
3. CECAV, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
4. Chemistry Research Centre, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, Portugal.
5. Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre of Parque Biológico de Gaia, R. Cunha, Avintes, Portugal.

Background and Aim: Wild mammals are among the most threatened species of the world in large part due to human activity. In this work, we used the method of partial least squares-path modeling associated with a geographic information system to analyze the impact of anthropogenic pressures on the mortality of wild mammals.

Materials and Methods: We collected the data related to the cause of death of native wild mammals admitted to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre of Parque Biológico de Gaia in Northern Portugal, during 10 years (2008-2017).

Results: A total of 359 animals from 42 municipalities (rural and urban areas) were included in the study. The main cause of death was of traumatic origin. From the anthropogenic pressures included in the study, water reservoirs, small companies, and residential buildings were the ones that contributed the most to increase the mortality of traumatic and nontraumatic origin. This relation of cause-effect (mortality-anthropogenic pressures) was supported by the high coefficients of determination obtained (R2>0.8).

Conclusion: The present results allow a general view on the reality of mammal's mortality in Northern Portugal. Furthermore, it could also constitute a valuable tool for the conservation of wild mammals in those areas. Keywords: anthropogenic factors, mortality, Northern of Portugal, partial least squares path modeling, wild mammals.

Keywords: anthropogenic factors, mortality, Northern of Portugal, partial least squares path modeling, wild mammals.

How to cite this article: Garcês A, Pires I, Pacheco F, Fernandes LS, Soeiro V, Lóio S, Prada J, Cortes R, Queiroga F (2020) Impact of anthropogenic pressures on wild mammals of Northern Portugal, Veterinary World, 13(12): 2691-2702.

Received: 15-05-2020 Accepted: 02-11-2020 Published online: 18-12-2020

Corresponding author: Felisbina Queiroga E-mail: fqueirog@utad.pt

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.2691-2702

Copyright: Garcês, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.