Abstract

MORERA-CHACON, Brayan; MONTALVO GUADAMUZ, Víctor; SANCHEZ PORRAS, Ronald  and  CARRILLO JIMENEZ, Eduardo. Potential ecological effects of the free-roaming horses, Equus caballus (Perissodactyla: Equidae) on wild mammals: a review. Cuadernos de Investigación UNED [online]. 2021, vol.13, n.2, e3488. ISSN 1659-4266.  http://dx.doi.org/10.22458/urj.v13i2.3488.

Introduction: The horse (Equus caballus) is an adaptable large herbivore distributed in a wide range of terrestrial biomes that negatively affects ecosystems around the world. Most research on horse-ecosystem interactions have focused on plants and soils, whereas horse effects on vertebrate species are poorly understanded. Objective: To synthesize, at a global scale, the effects of free-roaming horses on wild mammals. Methods: We conducted a systematic literature review that included the words "feral horses + competition", "feral horses + interactions", "feral horses + impacts", "feral horses + effects", based on the ''Web of Science''internet search engine. Results: We located 366 articles , but only 14 peer-reviewed documents described the effects of horses on local wild mammals. Most studies were published in the last decade and were about ecosystems in the United States of America (64%). Most used correlational approaches; experimental studies were rare. The effect of horses on mammals varied significantly, suggesting that changes on habitat structure mostly affects small rodents. Nevertheless, large ungulates had interference competition with the horses. Conclusion: We recommend monitoring proxies, for example ungulates and rodents, to determine if the presence of horses in protected areas affects conservation.

Keywords : Wildlife; habitat; ungulates; rodents; horses; grazing.

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