INCREMENTO

Global assessment of increasing wild ungulate numbers on ecosystem integrity

Research Pathway: Wildlife Ecology and Management

RTI2018-094202-B-C21 «Proyectos de I + D Retos de Investigación”, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Gobierno de España. Period: 2019-2022.

We got the first output of the INCREMENTO project. For the first time, we have created a preliminary foodscape for the Iberian ibex.

A foodscape is…

“A map showing the spatiotemporal assessment of food resources for large herbivores”

That foodscapes area step forward to link the availability of food resources and ability of resilience of herbivore populations suffering from chronic diseases. We will take advantage of this experience to apply the same foodscape method in our experimental enclosures in Valencia, Quintos de Mora and Valsemana.

The vicious circles on disease dynamics…

In natural populations, it is common to observe that poor condition predisposes individuals to host infections, which in turn further reduces body condition. These “vicious circles” rely on the idea that poor host condition leads to immune response impairment, and are assumed to operate in most host-pathogen systems. That hypothesis will be tested under controlled conditions using foodscapes and individual animal monitoring.