Bed Site Selection by Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Baghshadi Protected Area, Yazd Province, Iran

Authors: S. Aghainajafizadeh, F. Heydari, H. Abbasian

Abstract:

Populations of wild boar present in semi-arid of central Iran. We studied features influencing bed site selection by this species in semi-arid central steppe of Iran. Habitat features of the detected bed site were compared with randomly selected by quantifying number of habitat variables in semi- arid area in Iran. The results revealed that the most important influencing factors in bed site selection were vegetation cover, number of Artemisia sieberi, percentage cover and height of Acer cinerascens, percentage cover and height of Amygdalus scoparia. This is the first ecological study of the wild boar in a protected area of the semi desert biome of Iran. Sustainability of wild boar populations in this area dependent to shrubs of Amygdalus scoparia and Acer cinerascens for thermal and camouflage cover.

Keywords: Wild boar, Bed site selection, Yazd, Iran

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1334842

References:

[1] Dardaillon, M, "Seasonal variations in habitat selection and spatial distribution of wild boar (Sus Scrofa) in the Camargue, Southern France". Behavioural Processes, Vol 13, Issue 3, pp.251-268, 2002.
[2] Keuling , 0., Stier, N., Roth , M, "Commuting, shifting or remaining?: Different spatial utilisation patterns of wild boar Sus scrofa , in forest and field crops during summer". Mammalian Biology, Vol. 74, pp. 145-152, 2009.
[3] Levene, H, Olkin et al. (Eds), Contribution to probability and statistics: essay in Honor of Harold Hotelling- Stanford, 1960, pp.278-292.
[4] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, IUCN. http://www.redlist.org. 2011.
[5] Zar, j. H, Bio statistical analysis. New Jersey, 1996, 662pp.