Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review
ABSTRACTDomestic cats (Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758) can interact with and cause several negative impacts upon wildlife if unconstrained by their owners. These impacts occur especially because of their innate predatory behavior and, usually the lack of any natural predators, as well as due to their hi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Neotropical Biodiversity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23766808.2022.2161735 |
| _version_ | 1797393353243885568 |
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| author | Clodoaldo Lopes Assis Camila Moura Novaes Marcelo Augusto Pereira Coelho Dias Jhonny José Magalhães Guedes Renato Neves Feio Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino |
| author_facet | Clodoaldo Lopes Assis Camila Moura Novaes Marcelo Augusto Pereira Coelho Dias Jhonny José Magalhães Guedes Renato Neves Feio Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino |
| author_sort | Clodoaldo Lopes Assis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACTDomestic cats (Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758) can interact with and cause several negative impacts upon wildlife if unconstrained by their owners. These impacts occur especially because of their innate predatory behavior and, usually the lack of any natural predators, as well as due to their high abundances relative to native carnivores. Although these impacts are well studied in temperate countries, there are but a few records of species used as prey by these carnivores in Brazil. Here, we expand the knowledge of native species preyed upon by domestic cats in Brazil by presenting new records of this predator-prey interaction and reviewing records in the literature. Predation events were recorded through opportunistic encounters between 2016 and 2022. We recorded the predation of 14 native terrestrial vertebrate species (reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals) from the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. Our literature review recovered predation events by cats in the two aforementioned biomes plus in the Amazonia. Our results increase to 48 the number of wild species preyed upon by domestic cats in Brazil, which is probably an underestimation, as this number is much higher in other countries of comparable land size and species diversity. We suggest that cat population control measures should be carried out, especially in protected areas. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:02:17Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ad744ba85ba840858f4867675b2755a3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2376-6808 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T00:02:17Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Neotropical Biodiversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-ad744ba85ba840858f4867675b2755a32023-12-12T17:10:24ZengTaylor & Francis GroupNeotropical Biodiversity2376-68082023-12-0191101610.1080/23766808.2022.2161735Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature reviewClodoaldo Lopes Assis0Camila Moura Novaes1Marcelo Augusto Pereira Coelho Dias2Jhonny José Magalhães Guedes3Renato Neves Feio4Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino5Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, BrasilLaboratório de Manejo e Conservação de Fauna, Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, BrasilPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Departamento de Biologia Geral, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, BrasilPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Goiás – Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, BrasilPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, BrasilPrograma de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, Departamento de Biologia Animal, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, BrasilABSTRACTDomestic cats (Felis catus Linnaeus, 1758) can interact with and cause several negative impacts upon wildlife if unconstrained by their owners. These impacts occur especially because of their innate predatory behavior and, usually the lack of any natural predators, as well as due to their high abundances relative to native carnivores. Although these impacts are well studied in temperate countries, there are but a few records of species used as prey by these carnivores in Brazil. Here, we expand the knowledge of native species preyed upon by domestic cats in Brazil by presenting new records of this predator-prey interaction and reviewing records in the literature. Predation events were recorded through opportunistic encounters between 2016 and 2022. We recorded the predation of 14 native terrestrial vertebrate species (reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals) from the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. Our literature review recovered predation events by cats in the two aforementioned biomes plus in the Amazonia. Our results increase to 48 the number of wild species preyed upon by domestic cats in Brazil, which is probably an underestimation, as this number is much higher in other countries of comparable land size and species diversity. We suggest that cat population control measures should be carried out, especially in protected areas.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23766808.2022.2161735Felidaeinvasive predatorBrazilAtlantic forestCerrado |
| spellingShingle | Clodoaldo Lopes Assis Camila Moura Novaes Marcelo Augusto Pereira Coelho Dias Jhonny José Magalhães Guedes Renato Neves Feio Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review Neotropical Biodiversity Felidae invasive predator Brazil Atlantic forest Cerrado |
| title | Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review |
| title_full | Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review |
| title_fullStr | Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review |
| title_short | Predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two Brazilian hotspots: incidental records and literature review |
| title_sort | predation of vertebrates by domestic cats in two brazilian hotspots incidental records and literature review |
| topic | Felidae invasive predator Brazil Atlantic forest Cerrado |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/23766808.2022.2161735 |
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