Estudio de la fauna terrestre mediante foto-trampeo en dos sitios contrastantes del Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi

One of the main objectives of a NationalPark is conservation of biodiversity, so itis important to have effective methods for the monitoring ofanimal populations. In this work we studied the compositionof the community of terrestrial vertebrates in two sites ofNahuel Huapi National Park through camera trapping. Studysites are located in two different regions of the National Park,Isla Victoria and Mascardi area. Camera trapping was con-ducted from winter 2011 to autumn 2012 in Isla Victoria andfrom spring 2012 to autumn 2013 in Mascardi area. Resultsshow, dominance of non-native species in both sites, as wellas a higher abundance of animals on Isla Victoria mainly dueto red and fallow deer. Composition of species, however, isdifferent as a result of the historical use given to each place byhumans. The only species detected in both sites, and veryabundant in both of them, is wild boar. For the most commonspecies we carried out estimations of relative abundance forthe different sampled environments, and we also evaluatedactivity patterns. The use of camera traps was an effectiveand economic methodology that allowed the monitoring offauna with a lower effort than direct observation, even underrigurous climate conditions. This tool can be used for the mon-itoring of fauna and to evaluate the results of conservationpolicies in the protected area.