Factores que afectan la distribución espacial del borrego cimarrón, Ovis canadiensis weemsi, en la Sierra del Mechudo, B.C.S., México

Abstract

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOME COMPONENTS OF THE HABITAT OF THE BIGHORN SHEEP IN SIERRA DEL MECHUDO, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, WAS EVALUATED FROM FEBRUARY 1998 TO MARCH 1999, UTILIZING TECHNIQUES OF USE AVAILABILITY. THE ANALYYSIS WAS BASED ON SIX DESCRIPTIVE HABITAT VARIABLES: ELEVATION, SLOPE, ORIENTATION OF SLOPES, DISTANCE TO THE SCAPE GROUND, DISTANCE TO WATER AND TOPOFORMS. "USE" WAS CONSIDERED AS THE FRECUENCY OF OBSERVATION OF THE SHEEP RECORDED IN EACH OF THE COMPONENTS DURING ONE YEAR. "AVAILABILITY" WAS DEFINED AS THE PROPORTION OCCUPIED BY EACH COMPONENT IN THE STUDY AREA. IT WAS FOUND THAT SHEEP DO NOT UTILIZE THE COMPONENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR PROPORTION, AS SOME ARE PREFERRED (100-200 M. ELEVATIONS; SLOPES, HIGHER THAN 80%; SE ORIENTATION, LESS THAN 100 TO 200 M DISTANCE TO WATER, AND HILLTOPS AND HILLSLOPS), WHEREAS OTHER COMPONENTS ARE CLEARLY AVOIDED.