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Crosby CH, Schlacher TA, Kerwin K, Maslo B. Impacts of coyote colonization on coastal mammalian predators. Sci Rep 2024; 14:17868. [PMID: 39090258 PMCID: PMC11294349 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-68698-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/26/2024] [Indexed: 08/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Extreme ecosystem modification by humans has caused drastic reductions in populations and ranges of top mammalian predators, while simultaneously allowing synanthropic mesopredator species to expand. These conditions often result in inflated local densities of highly adaptable mesopredators that disrupt trophic dynamics and place unsustainable predation pressure on native prey populations. Colonization of a dominant predator may lead to top-down control of mesopredators and restore trophic balance. Coyotes are a novel colonizer of some coastal barrier islands of eastern North America, offering an opportunity to test how the addition of an apex predator impacts an established guild of mesopredators. To assess their trophic impact, we conducted 75,576 camera trapping hours over an 18-month study period, capturing > 1.5 million images across 108 coastal camera sites. Using two-species occupancy and habitat use models, we found sizeable effects of coyote habitat use on that of red foxes and free-ranging domestic cats, suggesting that coyotes function as apex predators in barrier island ecosystems. In fact, the only factor that determined the spatial pattern of highly ubiquitous red foxes was the sympatric habitat use of the largest carnivore in the food web-coyotes. That 'novel' apex predators can become established in coastal food webs illustrates the highly dynamic nature of conservation challenges for habitats and species at the edge of the sea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christian H Crosby
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA.
| | - Thomas A Schlacher
- School of Science, Engineering and Technology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD, 4558, Australia
| | - Kathleen Kerwin
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
| | - Brooke Maslo
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
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2
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Li Z, Lu J, Shi X, Duo L, Smith JLD, Wang T. Competitive interactions and coexistence of sympatric flagship carnivores in Asia. Integr Zool 2024; 19:183-199. [PMID: 37231642 DOI: 10.1111/1749-4877.12724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the competition and coexistence of flagship carnivores is key to creating strategies for their conservation in the face of global carnivore declines. Although studies exploring the dynamics and competition between tigers (Panthera tigris) and leopards (P. pardus) span decades, there is a lack of understanding regarding the factors that influence their coexistence mechanisms on a broad scale, as well as the drivers determining their exploitative and interference competition. We gathered a comprehensive list of research papers among which 36 papers explored the interspecific interactions between tigers and leopards and tested the influence of biotic and abiotic factors on the coexistence mechanisms along three dimensions using multiple response variables regression models; we also tested the influence of ecological drivers determining the exploitative or interference competition between tigers and leopards. Elevation and ungulate density were the most important predictors in regulating the coexistence mechanisms. Tigers and leopards exhibited more positive relations/higher overlaps as elevation increased in the spatial niche. In addition, they showed a higher dietary overlap in the prey-rich regions. We determined that interference competition between tigers and leopards was less frequently observed in habitats with dense tree cover and homogeneous vegetation structures. Meanwhile, studies with multiple metrics would promote the detection of interference competition. Our study provides new insight into the competitive interactions and coexistence mechanisms of tigers and leopards on a broad scale. Policy-makers and managers should pay more attention to the factors of elevation, prey abundance, and habitat structures for the conservation of tigers and leopards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhilin Li
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Animal Diversity, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Jiayu Lu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Animal Diversity, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Xiaoyi Shi
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Animal Diversity, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - Li'an Duo
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Conservation and Utilization of Animal Diversity, College of Life Sciences, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, China
| | - James L D Smith
- Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
| | - Tianming Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Engineering, College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- National Forestry and Grassland Administration Key Laboratory for Conservation Ecology of Northeast Tiger and Leopard, Beijing, China
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3
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Anderson TM, Hepler SA, Holdo RM, Donaldson JE, Erhardt RJ, Hopcraft JGC, Hutchinson MC, Huebner SE, Morrison TA, Muday J, Munuo IN, Palmer MS, Pansu J, Pringle RM, Sketch R, Packer C. Interplay of competition and facilitation in grazing succession by migrant Serengeti herbivores. Science 2024; 383:782-788. [PMID: 38359113 DOI: 10.1126/science.adg0744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Competition, facilitation, and predation offer alternative explanations for successional patterns of migratory herbivores. However, these interactions are difficult to measure, leaving uncertainty about the mechanisms underlying body-size-dependent grazing-and even whether succession occurs at all. We used data from an 8-year camera-trap survey, GPS-collared herbivores, and fecal DNA metabarcoding to analyze the timing, arrival order, and interactions among migratory grazers in Serengeti National Park. Temporal grazing succession is characterized by a "push-pull" dynamic: Competitive grazing nudges zebra ahead of co-migrating wildebeest, whereas grass consumption by these large-bodied migrants attracts trailing, small-bodied gazelle that benefit from facilitation. "Natural experiments" involving intense wildfires and rainfall respectively disrupted and strengthened these effects. Our results highlight a balance between facilitative and competitive forces in co-regulating large-scale ungulate migrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- T Michael Anderson
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Staci A Hepler
- Department of Statistical Sciences, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Ricardo M Holdo
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Jason E Donaldson
- Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Robert J Erhardt
- Department of Statistical Sciences, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - J Grant C Hopcraft
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
| | - Matthew C Hutchinson
- Department of Life & Environmental Sciences, University of California Merced, Merced, CA 95343, USA
| | - Sarah E Huebner
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
| | - Thomas A Morrison
- School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK
| | - Jeffry Muday
- Department of Biology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Issack N Munuo
- Serengeti Wildlife Research Centre, 2113 Lemara, Arusha, TZ
| | - Meredith S Palmer
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Johan Pansu
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Robert M Pringle
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Robert Sketch
- Department of Statistical Sciences, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Craig Packer
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
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4
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Ashbrook S, Hapeman P. American marten occupancy and activity patterns at the southern extent of their range in the eastern United States. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e10904. [PMID: 38322003 PMCID: PMC10844684 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10904] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/10/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2024] Open
Abstract
The relatively recent rediscovery of an American marten (Martes americana) population that was reintroduced over 30 years ago in southern Vermont provides an opportunity to investigate the relative importance of other mesocarnivores, and forest stand (e.g., DBH, downed logs, vertical structure) and habitat variables to their presence on the Green Mountain National Forest. Marten are state-listed as an endangered species in Vermont and occur there at the southern extent of their range in the eastern United States. We collected detection data from camera surveys in 5 km2 units between 2019 and 2021 (December-April; n = 40 units, 238 cameras). We examined activity patterns and applied an occupancy modeling framework to the detection data to assess the relative importance of covariates at unit and camera levels and assess interactions of marten with other mesocarnivores. We did not find any unit-level occupancy models with significant covariates that were better supported than the base model in the single-season unit-level analysis. Distance to the nearest release site was the covariate most supported for detectability at both spatial scales, and marten occupancy at the camera level was positively influenced by the amount of canopy cover. Two species interaction models did not indicate any positive or negative association beyond random with other mesocarnivores and activity patterns among mesocarnivores had substantial overlap. Marten recovery since the time of the reintroduction appears slow, and even 30 years later, the marten distribution is limited and suggests that dispersal is restricted at some level. We recommend a further investigation of the possible impact of other mesocarnivores to juvenile survival or other vital demographic rate (e.g., recruitment) in marten that were not explicitly measured in this study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Ashbrook
- Department of BiologyCentral Connecticut State UniversityNew BritainConnecticutUSA
| | - Paul Hapeman
- Department of BiologyCentral Connecticut State UniversityNew BritainConnecticutUSA
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Grabowski KL, Phillips EM, Gaynor KM. Limited spatiotemporal niche partitioning among mesocarnivores in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Ecol Evol 2024; 14:e10965. [PMID: 38371865 PMCID: PMC10869889 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2023] [Revised: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Competition drives community composition and structure in many ecosystems. Spatial and temporal niche partitioning, in which competing species divide the environment in space or time, are mechanisms that may allow for coexistence among ecologically similar species. Such division of resources may be especially important for carnivores in African savannas, which support diverse carnivore assemblages. We used camera traps to explore patterns of spatial and temporal niche partitioning among four mesocarnivore species in Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park: large-spotted genet (Genetta maculata), African civet (Civettictis civetta), honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus). We applied a multispecies occupancy model to evaluate spatial partitioning among mesocarnivores and to quantify the environmental factors that affect species-specific habitat use, including relative lion (Panthera leo) activity. We also analyzed the temporal activity overlap of the four focal species. We identified species-specific habitat covariates that influenced detection probabilities but found no evidence of spatial or temporal partitioning among mesocarnivores in the study system. Indeed, we found some evidence for spatial co-occurrence between two of our focal species: African civet and marsh mongoose. There may be limited competition among mesocarnivores in this system, perhaps due to niche and diet differentiation among these species and an abundance of resources. While we found limited evidence that lion activity impacts mesocarnivores, ongoing monitoring of intraguild interactions is vital as apex predator populations recover in the system. This study adds to a growing understanding of African mesocarnivore ecology and highlights the importance of understanding these dynamics for effective multispecies conservation and restoration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kathryn L. Grabowski
- School of Geography and the EnvironmentUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
- Department of BiologyMcGill UniversityMontréalQuébecCanada
| | - Erin M. Phillips
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyPrinceton UniversityPrincetonNew JerseyUSA
| | - Kaitlyn M. Gaynor
- Department of Zoology and BotanyUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverBritish ColumbiaCanada
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Mezquida ET, Zanón-Martínez JI. Habitat partitioning among sympatric tinamous in semiarid woodlands of central Argentina. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0297053. [PMID: 38241305 PMCID: PMC10798496 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0297053] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 12/24/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Sympatric, phylogenetically related and morphologically similar species that overlap in their distributions at a regional scale display different patterns of co-occurrence at local assemblages. Occurrence of each species at local scales might be the result of interspecific competition for limiting resources. However, these patterns could also arise from species-specific habitat preferences along the abiotic or land use gradients. To assess the role of these mechanisms, we investigated niche partitioning among sympatric tinamou species occurring in semiarid woodlands of central Argentina. We used occupancy models incorporating habitat characteristics and interspecific interactions, while accounting for detectability, to examine the spatial overlap among elegant crested tinamous (Eudromia elegans), brushland tinamous (Nothoprocta cinerascens), and nothura tinamous (Nothura darwinii and N. maculosa) across a wide regional scale. In addition, we investigated time partitioning among these species by estimating the degree of overlap in their daily activity patterns. The regional distribution of the three species was influenced by the gradient in plant productivity and vegetation structure, in agreement with their broad habitat requirements. We also found that the occurrence of each species was presumably affected by the presence of one or two predator species. Models including interactions among tinamou species found weak negative and positive interactions among species pairs, suggesting that co-occurrence patterns were mainly driven by species-specific habitat use rather than interspecific competition. The three species were diurnal, showing two main peaks of activity, and overlapped widely in their overall diel activity, although subordinate species tended to shift their activity patterns to reduce encounters with the dominant tinamou species, suggesting some segregation in this niche dimension. Projected changes in rainfall seasonality and warmer conditions in this region could benefit elegant crested tinamous over the other two species, although climate and land use changes will likely have a negative impact on all tinamou species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo T. Mezquida
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Biodiversity and Global Change Research Center (CIBC-UAM), Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Centro para el Estudio y Conservación de las Aves Rapaces en Argentina, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
| | - Juan I. Zanón-Martínez
- Centro para el Estudio y Conservación de las Aves Rapaces en Argentina, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
- Instituto Multidisciplinario sobre Ecosistemas y Desarrollo Sustentable, CONICET, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Tandil, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Chen X, Tian T, Pan H, Jin Y, Zhang X, Long Q, Tang L, Yang B, Zhang L. The Minimal Impact of Anthropogenic Disturbances on the Spatial Activities of Leopard Cats in Xinlong, China. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3328. [PMID: 37958083 PMCID: PMC10650319 DOI: 10.3390/ani13213328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2023] [Revised: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The habitat plays a crucial role in ensuring the survival of wildlife. However, the increasing disturbances caused by human activities present a substantial threat to habitats, especially for species such as the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), which is a significant small predator. Currently, research on leopard cats predominantly focuses on low-altitude regions within its distribution range, leaving plateau areas understudied. To enhance our understanding of the impact of human disturbances on leopard cat habitats, we undertook a study employing infrared camera trappings to monitor leopard cats' activity in Xinlong of southwestern China between 2015 and 2023. We analyzed the spatial distribution and habitat suitability of the leopard cats by utilizing ensemble species distribution models (ESDMs). Moreover, we employed two-species occupancy models to investigate the spatial interaction between leopard cats and human disturbances. The results indicated that (1) the potential suitable habitat area for leopard cats encompassed approximately 1324.93 km2 (14.3%), primarily located along the banks of Yalong river. (2) The distribution of suitable habitat was predominantly influenced by competitors, specifically the yellow-throated marten (YTM), accounting for 52.4% of the influence, as well as environmental factors such as distance to water (DTW) at 12.0% and terrain roughness index (TRI) at 10.0%. Human interference, including cattle presence (4.6%), distance to road (DTD, 4.9%), and distance to settlement (DTS, 3.5%), had a limited impact on the habitat distribution. (3) Within a 5 km radius, habitat suitability increased with proximity to human settlements. (4) Leopard cats exhibited spatial independence from humans and domestic cattle (species interaction factor (SIF) = 1.00) while avoiding domestic horses (SIF = 0.76 ± 0.03). The relatively minor impact of human disturbances in Xinlong could be attributed to traditional cultural practices safeguarding wildlife and the leopard cat's environmental adaptability. We recommend establishing a novel conservation paradigm based on the living dynamics of wildlife communities in Xinlong, thereby offering a more targeted approach to biodiversity preservation in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Chen
- Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (X.C.); (T.T.); (H.P.)
| | - Tengteng Tian
- Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (X.C.); (T.T.); (H.P.)
| | - Han Pan
- Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (X.C.); (T.T.); (H.P.)
- College of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, China
- Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE) Foundation, Beijing 100020, China; (Y.J.); (X.Z.)
| | - Yuyi Jin
- Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE) Foundation, Beijing 100020, China; (Y.J.); (X.Z.)
| | - Xiaodian Zhang
- Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology (SEE) Foundation, Beijing 100020, China; (Y.J.); (X.Z.)
| | - Qinggang Long
- China Environmental Protection Foundation, Beijing 100062, China; (Q.L.); (L.T.)
| | - Ling Tang
- China Environmental Protection Foundation, Beijing 100062, China; (Q.L.); (L.T.)
| | - Biao Yang
- College of Life Science, China West Normal University, Nanchong 637002, China
| | - Li Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Biodiversity Science and Ecological Engineering, Ministry of Education, College of Life Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; (X.C.); (T.T.); (H.P.)
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Sulaksono N, Pudyatmoko S, Sumardi S, Wardhana W, Budiman A. The Effects of Anthropogenic Disturbances on the Spatiotemporal Patterns of Medium-Large Mammals in Tropical Volcanic Landscapes. Animals (Basel) 2023; 13:3217. [PMID: 37893941 PMCID: PMC10603758 DOI: 10.3390/ani13203217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2023] [Revised: 10/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023] Open
Abstract
A comprehensive understanding of the consequences of human interactions with mammals is a critical factor in supporting and conserving species in landscapes dominated by humans, which are increasingly threatened. This study aimed to identify the spatial and temporal interactions between humans and mammals. A non-parametric statistical approach with kernel density was used to detect human-mammal temporal interactions. The species interaction factor (SIF) was applied to calculate the spatial overlap based on the two-species occupancy detection model. The activity patterns of medium mammals were nocturnal, diurnal, and cathemeral. The human-medium mammal pairs with SIF values that were <1 and statistically significant included the human-long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) pair, the human-leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) pair, and the human-barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac) pair. Based on their SIF values and the high overlap in their activity times, the human-macaque pairings had a high risk of conflict. Barking deer and leopard cats displayed a coexistence with humans via time-sharing activities. Due to temporal niche variations with human activities, the existence of nocturnal mammals was relatively uninterrupted. This study showed that most mammals are able to adapt spatially and temporally to various human activities. Nonetheless, efforts to mitigate human-wildlife conflict must be maintained, particularly in the case of severely endangered species, such as the Sunda pangolin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nurpana Sulaksono
- Gunung Merbabu National Park, The Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Boyolali 57316, Indonesia
- Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman 55281, Indonesia; (S.S.); (W.W.); (A.B.)
| | - Satyawan Pudyatmoko
- Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman 55281, Indonesia; (S.S.); (W.W.); (A.B.)
| | - Sumardi Sumardi
- Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman 55281, Indonesia; (S.S.); (W.W.); (A.B.)
| | - Wahyu Wardhana
- Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman 55281, Indonesia; (S.S.); (W.W.); (A.B.)
| | - Arief Budiman
- Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Sleman 55281, Indonesia; (S.S.); (W.W.); (A.B.)
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Hossack BR, Oja EB, Owens AK, Hall D, Cobos C, Crawford CL, Goldberg CS, Hedwall S, Howell PE, Lemos-Espinal JA, MacVean SK, McCaffery M, Mosley C, Muths E, Sigafus BH, Sredl MJ, Rorabaugh JC. Empirical evidence for effects of invasive American Bullfrogs on occurrence of native amphibians and emerging pathogens. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2023; 33:e2785. [PMID: 36478292 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2785] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Revised: 09/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Invasive species and emerging infectious diseases are two of the greatest threats to biodiversity. American Bullfrogs (Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana), which have been introduced to many parts of the world, are often linked with declines in native amphibians via predation and the spread of emerging pathogens such as amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis [Bd]) and ranaviruses. Although many studies have investigated the potential role of bullfrogs in the decline of native amphibians, analyses that account for shared habitat affinities and imperfect detection have found limited support for clear effects. Similarly, the role of bullfrogs in shaping the patch-level distribution of pathogens is unclear. We used eDNA methods to sample 233 sites in the southwestern USA and Sonora, Mexico (2016-2018) to estimate how the presence of bullfrogs affects the occurrence of four native amphibians, Bd, and ranaviruses. Based on two-species, dominant-subordinate occupancy models fitted in a Bayesian context, federally threatened Chiricahua Leopard Frogs (Rana chiricahuensis) and Western Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium) were eight times (32% vs. 4%) and two times (36% vs. 18%), respectively, less likely to occur at sites where bullfrogs occurred. Evidence for the negative effects of bullfrogs on Lowland Leopard Frogs (Rana yavapaiensis) and Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens) was less clear, possibly because of smaller numbers of sites where these native species still occurred and because bullfrogs often occur at lower densities in streams, the primary habitat for Lowland Leopard Frogs. At the community level, Bd was most likely to occur where bullfrogs co-occurred with native amphibians, which could increase the risk to native species. Ranaviruses were estimated to occur at 33% of bullfrog-only sites, 10% of sites where bullfrogs and native amphibians co-occurred, and only 3% of sites where only native amphibians occurred. Of the 85 sites where we did not detect any of the five target amphibian species, we also did not detect Bd or ranaviruses; this suggests other hosts do not drive the distribution of these pathogens in our study area. Our results provide landscape-scale evidence that bullfrogs reduce the occurrence of native amphibians and increase the occurrence of pathogens, information that can clarify risks and aid the prioritization of conservation actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Blake R Hossack
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, Wildlife Biology Program, W. A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | - Emily B Oja
- Wildlife Biology Program, W. A. Franke College of Forestry & Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA
| | | | - David Hall
- School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA
| | - Cassidi Cobos
- Turner Endangered Species Fund, Ladder Ranch, Caballo, New Mexico, USA
| | | | | | | | - Paige E Howell
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley, Massachusetts, USA
| | | | | | | | - Cody Mosley
- Arizona Game and Fish Department, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
| | - Erin Muths
- U.S. Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
| | - Brent H Sigafus
- U.S. Geological Survey, Southwest Biological Science Center, Tucson, Arizona, USA
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10
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Amin R, Wacher T, Fankem O, Bruce T, Gilbert ON, Ndimbe MS, Fowler A. Giant pangolin and white-bellied pangolin observations from a World Heritage site. MAMMALIA 2023. [DOI: 10.1515/mammalia-2021-0173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
Abstract
Pangolins are one of the most threatened mammal groups, as a result of habitat loss and exploitation for their meat, scales, and other body parts. However, there is a lack of quantitative data on pangolin populations; their behaviour and ecology make them challenging to survey. We undertook systematic camera-trap surveys of the 5260 km2 World Heritage Dja Faunal Reserve, Cameroon, sampling 305 sites in eight grids over 28,277 camera-trap days. We recorded 768 images of giant pangolin in 99 independent detections at 57 sites (RAI = 0.35), and 2282 images in 355 detections (RAI = 1.26) of white-bellied pangolin at 137 sites. Ground-dwelling giant pangolins were largely confined to the core of the Reserve. Semi-arboreal white-bellied pangolins were predominantly distributed in the northeast, east and south of the Reserve. Lower occupancy in the west and northwest could partly be due to pressures from human settlements around the Hydromekin Dam and Sud-Cameroun Hévéa rubber plantation. Our study suggests that at the ground-level the two species do not spatially segregate, and both were active throughout the night. We found high diel activity overlap, although there was a significant difference in activity peak times. There was also evidence of white-bellied pangolin possibly exhibiting fine-scale behavioural avoidance of giant pangolin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajan Amin
- Zoological Society of London , Regents Park , London NW1 4RY , UK
| | - Tim Wacher
- Zoological Society of London , Regents Park , London NW1 4RY , UK
| | - Oliver Fankem
- Zoological Society of London – Cameroon , Yaoundé , Cameroon
| | - Tom Bruce
- Zoological Society of London – Cameroon , Yaoundé , Cameroon
| | | | | | - Andrew Fowler
- Zoological Society of London – Cameroon , Yaoundé , Cameroon
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11
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Strampelli P, Henschel P, Searle CE, Macdonald DW, Dickman AJ. Spatial co-occurrence patterns of sympatric large carnivores in a multi-use African system. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0280420. [PMID: 36662874 PMCID: PMC9858824 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0280420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Interspecific interactions can be a key driver of habitat use, and must be accounted for in conservation planning. However, spatial partitioning between African carnivores, and how this varies with scale, remains poorly understood. Furthermore, most studies have taken place within small or highly protected areas, rather than in the heterogeneous, mixed-use landscapes characteristic of much of modern Africa. Here, we provide one of the first empirical investigations into population-level competitive interactions among an African large carnivore guild. We collected detection/non-detection data for an eastern African large carnivore guild in Tanzania's Ruaha-Rungwa conservation landscape, over an area of ~45,000 km2. We then applied conditional co-occupancy models to investigate co-occurrence between lion, leopard, and African wild dog, at two biologically meaningful scales. Co-occurrence patterns of cheetah and spotted hyaena could not be modelled. After accounting for habitat and detection effects, we found some evidence of wild dog avoidance of lion at the home range scale, and strong evidence of fine-scale avoidance. We found no evidence of interspecific exclusion of leopard by lion; rather, positive associations were observed at both scales, suggesting shared habitat preferences. We found little evidence of leopard habitat use being affected by wild dog. Our findings also reveal some interspecific effects on species detection, at both scales. In most cases, habitat use was driven more strongly by other habitat effects, such as biotic resources or anthropogenic pressures, than by interspecific pressures, even where evidence of the latter was present. Overall, our results help shed light on interspecific effects within an assemblage that has rarely been examined at this scale. We also demonstrate the effectiveness of sign-based co-occurrence modelling to describe interspecific spatial patterns of sympatric large carnivores across large scales. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for large carnivore conservation in modern African systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Strampelli
- Department of Zoology, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Recanati Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Lion Landscapes, Iringa, Tanzania
- Panthera, New York, NY, United States of America
| | | | - Charlotte E. Searle
- Department of Zoology, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Recanati Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Lion Landscapes, Iringa, Tanzania
| | - David W. Macdonald
- Department of Zoology, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Recanati Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Amy J. Dickman
- Department of Zoology, Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, Recanati Kaplan Centre, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Lion Landscapes, Iringa, Tanzania
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12
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Wohner PJ, Scheerer PD, Meeuwig MH, Peterson JT. A comprehensive multi-state conditional occupancy model for evaluating interactions of non-native and native species. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1014707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023] Open
Abstract
A major challenge in ecology is disentangling interactions of non-native, potentially invasive species on native species. Conditional two-species occupancy models examine the effects of dominant species (e.g., non-native) on subordinate species (e.g., native) while considering the possibility that occupancy of one species may affect occupancy and/ or detection of the other. Although conditional two-species models are useful for evaluating the influence of one species on presence of another, it is possible that species interactions are density dependent. Therefore, we developed a novel two-species occupancy model that incorporates multiple abundance states (i.e., absent, present, abundant) of the native species. We showcase the utility of this model with a case study that incorporates random effects and covariates on both occupancy and detection to help disentangle species interactions given varying occupancy and detection in different abundance states. We use snorkel survey data from the Umpqua basin, Oregon, where it is hypothesized that smallmouth bass Micropterus dolomieu, a non-native piscivore, exclude Umpqua chub Oregonichthys kalawatseti, a small endemic minnow. From our two-species multi-state (2SMS) model, we concluded that average occupancy was low for both fishes, and that when non-native bass were present, overall native chub occupancy in the present (0.18 ± 0.05 SD) and abundant (0.19 ± 0.03) states was higher than when non-natives were absent (0.14 ± 0.02/ 0.08 ± 0.02), indicating the non-native was not excluding the native species. By incorporating a species interaction factor, we found a positive association (6.75 ± 5.54 SD) between native chub and non-native bass. The covariates strongly related to occupancy were elevation, algae, and land cover type (urban and shrub). Detection probability for both species (0.21–0.82) was most strongly related to the covariates day of year, water temperature, gravel substrate, and stream order/ magnitude. Incorporation of detection probability and covariates enabled interpretation of interactions between the two species that may have been missed without their inclusion in the modeling process. Our new 2SMS occupancy model can be used by scientists and managers with a broad range of survey and covariate data to disentangle species interactions problems to help them inform management decisions.
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13
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Hubbell JP, Schaefer JF, Kreiser BR. The influence of habitat characteristics on the occupancy and dispersal of two headwater fishes in a dendritic network. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Joshua P. Hubbell
- Department of Biological Sciences Hattiesburg University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg Mississippi USA
| | - Jacob F. Schaefer
- Department of Biological Sciences Hattiesburg University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg Mississippi USA
| | - Brian R. Kreiser
- Department of Biological Sciences Hattiesburg University of Southern Mississippi Hattiesburg Mississippi USA
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14
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Suffice P, Mazerolle MJ, Imbeau L, Cheveau M, Asselin H, Drapeau P. Site occupancy by American martens and fishers in temperate deciduous forests of Québec. J Mammal 2022; 104:159-170. [PMID: 36818684 PMCID: PMC9936503 DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyac092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2021] [Accepted: 08/11/2022] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Interspecific interactions can mediate site occupancy of sympatric species and can be a key factor in habitat use patterns. American martens (Martes americana) and Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are two sympatric mesocarnivores in eastern North American forests. Due to their larger size, fishers have a competitive advantage over martens. We investigated site occupancy of martens and fishers in temperate deciduous forests of Québec, an environment modified by forest management and climate change. We formulated hypotheses on the spatial distribution of the studied species based on the knowledge of local trappers and on the scientific literature regarding forest cover composition, habitat fragmentation, and competitive relationships. We used a network of 49 camera traps monitored over two fall seasons to document site occupancy by both species. We used two-species site occupancy models to assess habitat use and the influence of fishers on martens at spatial grains of different sizes. None of the habitat variables that we considered explained site occupancy by fishers. Availability of dense old coniferous stands explained the spatial distribution of martens both at the home range grain size and at the landscape grain size. We identified the characteristics of habitat hotspots based on the knowledge of trappers, which highlighted the importance of stand composition, height, age, and canopy closure. The characteristics of habitat hotspots for martens in temperate deciduous forests refine the habitat suitability model for American martens that was originally developed for boreal forests of Québec.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Marc J Mazerolle
- Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, Université Laval, Québec City, Québec, Canada
| | - Louis Imbeau
- Institut de recherche sur les forêts, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada
| | - Marianne Cheveau
- Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs du Québec, Québec City, Québec, Canada
| | - Hugo Asselin
- École d’études autochtones, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, Canada
| | - Pierre Drapeau
- Département des sciences biologiques, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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15
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Haswell PM, López-Pérez AM, Clifford DL, Foley JE. Recovering an endangered vole and its habitat may help control invasive house mice. FOOD WEBS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2022.e00267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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16
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Gorczynski D, Hsieh C, Ahumada J, Akampurira E, Andrianarisoa MH, Espinosa S, Johnson S, Kayijamahe C, Lima MGM, Mugerwa B, Rovero F, Salvador J, Santos F, Sheil D, Uzabaho E, Beaudrot L. Human density modulates spatial associations among tropical forest terrestrial mammal species. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2022; 28:7205-7216. [PMID: 36172946 PMCID: PMC9827980 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Accepted: 08/16/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
The spatial aggregation of species pairs often increases with the ecological similarity of the species involved. However, the way in which environmental conditions and anthropogenic activity affect the relationship between spatial aggregation and ecological similarity remains unknown despite the potential for spatial associations to affect species interactions, ecosystem function, and extinction risk. Given that human disturbance has been shown to both increase and decrease spatial associations among species pairs, ecological similarity may have a role in mediating these patterns. Here, we test the influences of habitat diversity, primary productivity, human population density, and species' ecological similarity based on functional traits (i.e., functional trait similarity) on spatial associations among tropical forest mammals. Large mammals are highly sensitive to anthropogenic change and therefore susceptible to changes in interspecific spatial associations. Using two-species occupancy models and camera trap data, we quantified the spatial overlap of 1216 species pairs from 13 tropical forest protected areas around the world. We found that the association between ecological similarity and interspecific species associations depended on surrounding human density. Specifically, aggregation of ecologically similar species was more than an order of magnitude stronger in landscapes with the highest human density compared to those with the lowest human density, even though all populations occurred within protected areas. Human-induced changes in interspecific spatial associations have been shown to alter top-down control by predators, increase disease transmission and increase local extinction rates. Our results indicate that anthropogenic effects on the distribution of wildlife within protected areas are already occurring and that impacts on species interactions, ecosystem functions, and extinction risk warrant further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Gorczynski
- Department of BiosciencesRice UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
- Program in Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyRice UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
| | - Chia Hsieh
- Department of BiosciencesRice UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
- Program in Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyRice UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
| | - Jorge Ahumada
- Moore Center for Science, Conservation InternationalArlingtonVirginiaUSA
| | - Emmanuel Akampurira
- Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation (ITFC), Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST)KabaleUganda
- Department of Conflict and Development Studies, Ghent UniversityGentBelgium
| | | | - Santiago Espinosa
- Facultad de CienciasUniversidad Autónoma de San Luis PotosíSan Luis PotosíMexico
- Escuela de Ciencias BiológicasPontificia Universidad Católica del EcuadorQuitoEcuador
| | - Steig Johnson
- Department of Anthropology and ArchaeologyUniversity of CalgaryCalgaryAlbertaCanada
| | | | - Marcela Guimarães Moreira Lima
- Biogeography of Conservation and Macroecology LaboratoryInstitute of Biological Sciences, Universidade Federal do ParáParáBrazil
| | - Badru Mugerwa
- Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife ResearchBerlinGermany
- Department of EcologyTechnische Universität BerlinBerlinGermany
| | - Francesco Rovero
- Department of BiologyUniversity of FlorenceFlorenceItaly
- MUSE‐Museo delle ScienzeTrentoItaly
| | - Julia Salvador
- Wildlife Conservation SocietyQuitoEcuador
- Pontificia Universidad Católica del EcuadorQuitoEcuador
| | - Fernanda Santos
- Programa de Capacitação Institucional, Coordenação de Ciências da Terra e Ecologia, Museu Paraense Emílio GoeldiBelémBrazil
| | - Douglas Sheil
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource ManagementNorwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)AasNorway
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management GroupWageningen University & ResearchWageningenNetherlands
| | | | - Lydia Beaudrot
- Department of BiosciencesRice UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
- Program in Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyRice UniversityHoustonTexasUSA
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17
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Amir Z, Sovie A, Luskin MS. Inferring predator–prey interactions from camera traps: A Bayesian co‐abundance modeling approach. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9627. [PMCID: PMC9745391 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2022] [Revised: 10/14/2022] [Accepted: 11/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Amir
- School of Biological Sciences University of Queensland St. Lucia Queensland Australia
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science University of Queensland St. Lucia Queensland Australia
| | - Adia Sovie
- Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
| | - Matthew Scott Luskin
- School of Biological Sciences University of Queensland St. Lucia Queensland Australia
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science University of Queensland St. Lucia Queensland Australia
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18
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Beissinger SR, Peterson SM, Hall LA, Van Schmidt N, Tecklin J, Risk BB, Richmond OM, Kovach TJ, Kilpatrick AM. Stability of patch-turnover relationships under equilibrium and nonequilibrium metapopulation dynamics driven by biogeography. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:2372-2383. [PMID: 36209497 PMCID: PMC9828715 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2022] [Revised: 06/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Two controversial tenets of metapopulation biology are whether patch quality and the surrounding matrix are more important to turnover (colonisation and extinction) than biogeography (patch area and isolation) and whether factors governing turnover during equilibrium also dominate nonequilibrium dynamics. We tested both tenets using 18 years of surveys for two secretive wetland birds, black and Virginia rails, during (1) a period of equilibrium with stable occupancy and (2) after drought and arrival of West Nile Virus (WNV), which resulted in WNV infections in rails, increased extinction and decreased colonisation probabilities modified by WNV, nonequilibrium dynamics for both species and occupancy decline for black rails. Area (primarily) and isolation (secondarily) drove turnover during both stable and unstable metapopulation dynamics, greatly exceeding the effects of patch quality and matrix conditions. Moreover, slopes between turnover and patch characteristics changed little between equilibrium and nonequilibrium, confirming the overriding influences of biogeographic factors on turnover.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven R. Beissinger
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy & ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA
| | - Sean M. Peterson
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy & ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,Department of Environmental BiologyState University of New York College of Environmental Science and ForestryNew YorkUSA
| | - Laurie A. Hall
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy & ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,Museum of Vertebrate ZoologyUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center, San Francisco Bay Estuary Field StationCaliforniaUSA
| | - Nathan Van Schmidt
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy & ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,US Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science CenterFort CollinsColoradoUSA
| | - Jerry Tecklin
- Sierra Foothills Research and Extension CenterBrowns ValleyCaliforniaUSA,21170 Shields Camp RoadNevada CityCaliforniaUSA
| | - Benjamin B. Risk
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy & ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,Department of Biostatistics and BioinformaticsEmory UniversityAtlantaGeorgiaUSA
| | - Orien M. Richmond
- Department of Environmental Science, Policy & ManagementUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCaliforniaUSA,Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife RefugeCommerce CityColoradoUSA
| | - Tony J. Kovach
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaSanta CruzCaliforniaUSA,California Department of Public Health/Vector Borne Disease SectionCaliforniaUSA
| | - A. Marm Kilpatrick
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaSanta CruzCaliforniaUSA
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19
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Salvatori M, Oberosler V, Augugliaro C, Krofel M, Rovero F. Effects of free-ranging livestock on occurrence and interspecific interactions of a mammalian community. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2644. [PMID: 35471769 PMCID: PMC9788037 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2021] [Revised: 01/21/2022] [Accepted: 03/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Mammalian communities inhabiting temperate grasslands are of conservation concern globally, especially in Central Asia, where livestock numbers have dramatically increased in recent decades, leading to overgrazing and land-use change. Yet, how this pervasive presence of livestock herds affects the community of wild mammals remains largely unstudied. We used systematic camera trapping at 216 sites across remote, mountainous areas of the Mongolian Altai Mountains to assess the spatial and temporal patterns of occurrence and the interspecific relationships within a mammalian community that includes different categories of livestock. By adopting a recently proposed multispecies occupancy model that incorporates interspecific correlation in occupancy, we found several statistically strong correlations in occupancy among species pairs, with the majority involving livestock. The sign of such associations was markedly species-dependent, with larger wild species of conservation concern, namely, snow leopard and Siberian ibex, avoiding livestock presence. As predicted, we found evidence of a positive correlation in occupancy between predators and their respective main prey. Contrary to our expectations, a number of intraguild species pairs also showed positive co-occurrence, with no evidence of spatiotemporal niche partitioning. Overall, our study suggests that livestock encroaching into protected areas influences the whole local community of wild mammals. Though pastoralism has coexisted with wildlife for millennia in central Asian grasslands, our findings suggest that policies and practices to decrease the pressure of livestock husbandry on wildlife are needed, with special attention on large species, such as the snow leopard and its wild prey, which seem to be particularly sensitive to this pervasive livestock presence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Salvatori
- Department of BiologyUniversity of FlorenceSesto FiorentinoItaly
- MUSE ‐ Science Museum of TrentoTrentoItaly
| | | | - Claudio Augugliaro
- Department of Ecology and EvolutionUniversity of LausanneLausanneSwitzerland
- Wildlife Initiative NGOUlaanbaatarMongolia
| | - Miha Krofel
- Department of Forestry, Biotechnical FacultyUniversity of LjubljanaLjubljanaSlovenia
| | - Francesco Rovero
- Department of BiologyUniversity of FlorenceSesto FiorentinoItaly
- MUSE ‐ Science Museum of TrentoTrentoItaly
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20
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Parren MK, Furnas BJ, Barton DC, Nelson MD, Clucas B. Drought and coyotes mediate mesopredator response to human disturbance. Ecosphere 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4258] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Molly K. Parren
- Department of Wildlife California Polytechnic State University Humboldt California USA
| | - Brett J. Furnas
- Wildlife Health Laboratory California Department of Fish and Wildlife Rancho Cordova California USA
| | - Daniel C. Barton
- Department of Wildlife California Polytechnic State University Humboldt California USA
| | - Misty D. Nelson
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife Sacramento California USA
| | - Barbara Clucas
- Department of Wildlife California Polytechnic State University Humboldt California USA
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21
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Wooster EIF, Ramp D, Lundgren EJ, O'Neill AJ, Yanco E, Bonsen GT, Wallach AD. Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eamonn I. F. Wooster
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, Univ. of Technology Sydney Ultimo NSW Australia
| | - Daniel Ramp
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, Univ. of Technology Sydney Ultimo NSW Australia
| | - Erick J. Lundgren
- Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Dept of Biology, Aarhus Univ. Aarhus Denmark
- Section for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Dept of Biology, Aarhus Univ. Aarhus C Denmark
| | | | - Esty Yanco
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, Univ. of Technology Sydney Ultimo NSW Australia
| | - Gavin T. Bonsen
- Centre for Compassionate Conservation, Univ. of Technology Sydney Ultimo NSW Australia
| | - Arian D. Wallach
- School of Biology and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Queensland Univ. of Technology Brisbane QLD Australia
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22
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Tolerance of wolves shapes desert canid communities in the Middle East. Glob Ecol Conserv 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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23
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Sharief A, Kumar V, Singh H, Mukherjee T, Dutta R, Joshi BD, Bhattacharjee S, Ramesh C, Chandra K, Thakur M, Sharma LK. Landscape use and co-occurrence pattern of snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and its prey species in the fragile ecosystem of Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271556. [PMID: 35862366 PMCID: PMC9302832 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the high mountain ecosystem by regulating prey populations and maintaining plant community structure. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the role of the snow leopard and its interaction with prey species. Further, elucidating landscape use and co-occurrence of snow leopard and its prey species can be used to assess the differential use of habitat, allowing them to coexist. We used camera trapping and sign survey to study the interactions of snow leopard and its prey species (Siberian Ibex- Capra sibrica and Blue sheep-Pseudois nayaur) in the Spiti valley Himachal Pradesh. Using the occupancy modelling, we examined whether these prey and predator species occur together more or less frequently than would be expected by chance. To understand this, we have used ten covariates considering the ecology of the studied species. Our results suggest habitat covariates, such as LULC16 (barren area), LULC10 (grassland), ASP (aspect), SLP (slope) and DW (distance to water), are important drivers of habitat use for the snow leopard as well as its prey species. Furthermore, we found that the snow leopard detection probability was high if the site was used by its prey species, i.e., ibex and blue sheep. Whereas, in the case of the prey species, the probability of detection was low when the predator (snow leopard) was present and detected. Besides this, our results suggested that both species were less likely to detect together than expected if they were independent (Snow leopard—Ibex, Delta = 0.29, and snow leopard—blue sheep, Delta = 0.28, both the values are <1, i.e., avoidance). Moreover, despite the predation pressure, the differential anti-predation habitat selection and restriction of temporal activities by the prey species when snow leopard is present allows them to co-exist. Therefore, considering the strong link between the habitat use by the snow leopard and its prey species, it is imperative to generate quantitative long-term data on predator-prey densities and the population dynamics of its prey species in the landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amira Sharief
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
- Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Vineet Kumar
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
- Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
| | - Hemant Singh
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Tanoy Mukherjee
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Ritam Dutta
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Bheem Dutt Joshi
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | | | | | - Kailash Chandra
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Mukesh Thakur
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
| | - Lalit Kumar Sharma
- Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
- * E-mail:
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24
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Morin DJ, Lesmeister DB, Nielsen CK, Schauber EM. Asymmetrical intraguild interactions with coyotes, red foxes, and domestic dogs may contribute to competitive exclusion of declining gray foxes. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9074. [PMID: 35813925 PMCID: PMC9251843 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 06/05/2022] [Accepted: 06/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Species coexistence is governed by availability of resources and intraguild interactions including strategies to reduce ecological overlap. Gray foxes are dietary generalist mesopredators expected to benefit from anthropogenic disturbance, but populations have declined across the midwestern USA, including severe local extirpation rates coinciding with high coyote and domestic dog occurrence and low red fox occurrence. We used data from a large‐scale camera trap survey in southern Illinois, USA to quantify intraguild spatial and temporal interactions among the canid guild including domestic dogs. We used a two‐species co‐occurrence model to make pairwise assessments of conditional occupancy and detection rates. We also estimated temporal activity overlap among species and fit a fixed‐effects hierarchical community occupancy model with the four canid species. We partitioned the posterior distributions to compare gray fox occupancy probabilities conditional on estimated state of combinations of other species to assess support for hypothesized interactions. We found no evidence of broadscale avoidance among native canids and conclude that spatial and temporal segregation were limited by ubiquitous human disturbance. Mean guild richness was two canid species at a site and gray fox occupancy was greater when any combination of sympatric canids was also present, setting the stage for competitive exclusion over time. Domestic dogs may amplify competitive interactions by increasing canid guild size to the detriment of gray foxes. Our results suggest that while human activities can benefit some mesopredators, other species such as gray foxes may serve as bellwethers for habitat degradation with trophic downgrading and continued anthropogenic homogenization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dana J. Morin
- Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture Mississippi State University Mississippi State Mississippi USA
| | - Damon B. Lesmeister
- Pacific Northwest Research Station, U.S. Forest Service and Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon USA
| | - Clayton K. Nielsen
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Forestry Program Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
| | - Eric M. Schauber
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign Champaign Illinois USA
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25
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Lonsinger RC. Co-occurrence models fail to infer underlying patterns of avoidance and aggregation when closure is violated. Ecol Evol 2022; 12:e9104. [PMID: 35845361 PMCID: PMC9273567 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in multi‐species monitoring have prompted an increase in the use of multi‐species occupancy analyses to assess patterns of co‐occurrence among species, even when data were collected at scales likely violating the assumption that sites were closed to changes in the occupancy state for the target species. Violating the closure assumption may lead to erroneous conclusions related to patterns of co‐occurrence among species. Occurrence for two hypothetical species was simulated under patterns of avoidance, aggregation, or independence, when the closure assumption was either met or not. Simulated populations were sampled at two levels (N = 250 or 100 sites) and two scales of temporal resolution for surveys. Sample data were analyzed with conditional two‐species occupancy models, and performance was assessed based on the proportion of simulations recovering the true pattern of co‐occurrence. Estimates of occupancy were unbiased when closure was met, but biased when closure violations occurred; bias increased when sample size was small and encounter histories were collapsed to a large‐scale temporal resolution. When closure was met and patterns of avoidance and aggregation were simulated, conditional two‐species models tended to correctly find support for non‐independence, and estimated species interaction factors (SIF) aligned with predicted values. By contrast, when closure was violated, models tended to incorrectly infer a pattern of independence and power to detect simulated patterns of avoidance or aggregation that decreased with smaller sample size. Results suggest that when the closure assumption is violated, co‐occurrence models often fail to detect underlying patterns of avoidance or aggregation, and incorrectly identify a pattern of independence among species, which could have negative consequences for our understanding of species interactions and conservation efforts. Thus, when closure is violated, inferred patterns of independence from multi‐species occupancy should be interpreted cautiously, and evidence of avoidance or aggregation is likely a conservative estimate of true pattern or interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C Lonsinger
- U.S. Geological Survey, Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Oklahoma State University Stillwater Oklahoma USA
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Moura CW, Clucas B, Furnas BJ. Humans Are More Influential Than Coyotes on Mammalian Mesopredator Spatiotemporal Activity Across an Urban Gradient. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.867188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
For mammalian mesopredators, human-dominated landscapes offer a mosaic of risk and reward. While the reward of anthropogenic food resources may attract mesopredators to human-dominated areas, increased mesopredator activity and abundance in these areas may cause interspecific conflict. For smaller-bodied mesopredators, the perceived risk of intraguild predation by larger mesopredators may be enough to drive spatial and temporal avoidance strategies to reduce risk while still benefiting from anthropogenic resources. We evaluated how the spatiotemporal activity of four non-canid mammalian mesopredators – raccoon (Procyon lotor), striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), opossum (Didelphis virginiana), and domestic cat (Felis catus) – might change in the presence of an intraguild predator, the coyote (Canis latrans), and a “super predator,” humans. We quantified mesopredator activity by deploying camera traps at 110 sites across an urban gradient in the Sacramento Metropolitan Area in central California, USA. We hypothesized that mesopredators would likely change their spatiotemporal activity in response to urban intensity (H1), coyotes (H2), human presence (H3), and if urban intensity might mediate the response to humans and coyotes (H4). We used single-species occupancy models to test how mesopredators responded to different spatial scales of urbanization, as well as the temporal presence of coyotes and humans. Top single-species models then informed two-species conditional occupancy models to evaluate how mesopredators responded to “dominant” coyotes. Finally, we used temporal overlap analyzes to evaluate whether activity patterns of mesopredators changed in response to humans and coyotes across three levels of urban intensity. Mesopredators did not change their spatial or temporal activity across the urban gradient when coyotes were present. Additionally, coyotes did not influence mesopredator temporal activity at 1-3-day scales; however, raccoons and cats may avoid coyotes at finer scales. Humans influenced mesopredator detectability, as cats and coyotes avoided humans after 1 and 2 days respectively, and opossums avoided urban areas when humans were present within 3 days. Coyotes may play a limited role in altering smaller-bodied mesopredator activity, especially when humans are present. While the impacts of human presence and urban features are often linked, mesopredators may perceive the risk each poses differently, and adjust their activity accordingly.
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Chaudhuri S, Bandyopadhyay M, Rajaraman R, Kalyanasundaram S, Sathyakumar S, Krishnamurthy R. Spatio-Temporal Patterns and Source-Dispersion Modeling Towards Sloth Bear–Human Conflict Management in Central India. FRONTIERS IN CONSERVATION SCIENCE 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fcosc.2022.850309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The impact of humans on biodiversity, in the form of the spatially extensive occurrence of humans and subsequent habitat degradation, leads to negative interactions between humans and native wildlife. However, knowledge of the spatial and temporal interface between humans and wildlife is necessary to understand the root cause of such negative interactions, yet considerably understudied in the context of human-dominated landscapes in south and south-eastern Asia. We took this opportunity, gaining insights on seasonal spatial interaction and spatio-temporal overlap between sloth bears (Melursus ursinus) and humans, and subsequently predicted the conflict source sites and dispersion (i.e., hotspots) based on the robust geographic profiling (GP) method in the Sanjay Tiger Reserve (STR), a human-dominated landscape of central India. Detection data of sloth bear and human were obtained from camera trap survey conducted for two years (2017–2018) and records of conflict incidents (2009–2019) were collected from forest department. We found that sloth bears can co-occur with humans independently of seasons, based on occupancy models. However, during summer, higher temporal overlap (Δ4 = 0.46) and lower spatial overlap (0.31) were observed between sloth bears and humans. Contrastingly, lower temporal overlap (Δ4 = 0.29) and higher spatial overlap (0.44) were observed between the same two during winter. The activity patterns of sloth bears and humans differed significantly across seasons and within the same species in different seasons. Our findings indicated that significant changes in human activity, especially during summer, increased the likelihood of sloth bear-human interaction and subsequent conflict incidents. The mapping of conflict source and dispersion (with high accuracy) also predicted a greater probability of conflict during summer, compared to winter, and thus showed the successful application of GP models in this field. Also, camera trap data alone were able to predict the occurrence of hotspots, demonstrating the use of camera trap records in the successful prediction of source-dispersion of conflict. This study would be useful for decision-makers to alleviate sloth bear–human conflict based on insights on seasonal variation of spatio-temporal overlap between the two and direct conservation efforts accordingly.
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Garvey PM, Glen AS, Clout MN, Nichols M, Pech RP. Niche partitioning in a guild of invasive mammalian predators. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e2566. [PMID: 35138656 PMCID: PMC9285952 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2021] [Revised: 08/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/15/2021] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Predators compete aggressively for resources, establishing trophic hierarchies that influence ecosystem structure. Competitive interactions are particularly important in invaded ecosystems where introduced predators can suppress native prey species. We investigated whether niche partitioning exists within a guild of invasive mammalian predators and determined the consequences for native species. Over 4405 camera-trap days, we assessed interactions among three invasive predators: two apex predators (feral cats Felis catus and ferrets Mustela furo) and a mesopredator (stoats Mustela erminea), in relation to their primary prey (lagomorphs, rodents and birds) and habitat use. Further, we tested for mesopredator release by selectively removing cats and ferrets in a pulse perturbation experiment. We found compelling evidence of niche partitioning; spatiotemporal activity of apex predators maximized access to abundant invasive prey, with ferrets targeting lagomorphs and cats targeting rodents. Mesopredators adjusted their behavior to reduce the risk of interference competition, thereby restricting access to abundant prey but increasing predation pressure on diurnal native birds. Stoats were only recorded at the treatment site after both larger predators were removed, becoming the most frequently detected predator at 6 months post-perturbation. We suggest there is spatial and resource partitioning within the invasive predator guild, but that this is incomplete, and avoidance is achieved by temporal partitioning within overlapping areas. Niche partitioning among invasive predators facilitates coexistence, but simultaneously intensifies predation pressure on vulnerable native species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mick N. Clout
- Centre for Biodiversity and Biosecurity, School of Biological SciencesUniversity of AucklandAucklandNew Zealand
| | - Margaret Nichols
- Centre for Wildlife Management and ConservationLincoln UniversityCanterburyNew Zealand
| | - Roger P. Pech
- Manaaki Whenua – Landcare ResearchLincolnNew Zealand
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Kellner KF, Parsons AW, Kays R, Millspaugh JJ, Rota CT. A Two-Species Occupancy Model with a Continuous-Time Detection Process Reveals Spatial and Temporal Interactions. JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL, BIOLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s13253-021-00482-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Walters CM, Osborne DC. Occurrence patterns of wild turkeys altered by wild pigs. WILDLIFE SOC B 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wsb.1266] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Clay M. Walters
- Department of Biology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon S7N 5C8 SK Canada
| | - Douglas C. Osborne
- College of Forestry, Agriculture, and Natural Resources, and Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station University of Arkansas Monticello 71656 AR USA
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Saeed M, Rais M, Akram A, Williams MR, Kellner KF, Hashsham SA, Davis DR. Development and validation of an eDNA protocol for monitoring endemic Asian spiny frogs in the Himalayan region of Pakistan. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5624. [PMID: 35379841 PMCID: PMC8979970 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-09084-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Wildlife monitoring programs are instrumental for the assessment of species, habitat status, and for the management of factors affecting them. This is particularly important for species found in freshwater ecosystems, such as amphibians, as they have higher estimated extinction rates than terrestrial species. We developed and validated two species-specific environmental DNA (eDNA) protocols and applied them in the field to detect the Hazara Torrent Frog (Allopaa hazarensis) and Murree Hills Frog (Nanorana vicina). Additionally, we compared eDNA surveys with visual encounter surveys and estimated site occupancy. eDNA surveys resulted in higher occurrence probabilities for both A. hazarensis and N. vicina than for visual encounter surveys. Detection probability using eDNA was greater for both species, particularly for A. hazarensis. The top-ranked detection model for visual encounter surveys included effects of both year and temperature on both species, and the top-ranked occupancy model included effects of elevation and year. The top-ranked detection model for eDNA data was the null model, and the top-ranked occupancy model included effects of elevation, year, and wetland type. To our knowledge, this is the first time an eDNA survey has been used to monitor amphibian species in the Himalayan region.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Saeed
- Herpetology Lab, Department of Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan. .,Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
| | - Muhammad Rais
- Herpetology Lab, Department of Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan.
| | - Ayesha Akram
- Herpetology Lab, Department of Wildlife Management, Faculty of Forestry, Range Management and Wildlife, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi, 46000, Pakistan
| | - Maggie R Williams
- School of Engineering and Technology, Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI, USA
| | - Kenneth F Kellner
- Global Wildlife Conservation Center, State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Syed A Hashsham
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.,Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.,Department of Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Drew R Davis
- School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Science, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX, USA.,Biodiversity Collections, Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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Di Bitetti MS, Iezzi ME, Cruz P, Cirignoli S, Varela D, De Angelo C. Enemies or good neighbors? No indication of spatial or temporal avoidance between two sympatric South
American canids. J Zool (1987) 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/jzo.12965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- M. S. Di Bitetti
- Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS) Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM) ‐ CONICET Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Forestales UNaM Eldorado Argentina
| | - M. E. Iezzi
- Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS) Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM) ‐ CONICET Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico Puerto Iguazú Argentina
| | - P. Cruz
- Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS) Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM) ‐ CONICET Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Forestales UNaM Eldorado Argentina
| | - S. Cirignoli
- Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico Puerto Iguazú Argentina
| | - D. Varela
- Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS) Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM) ‐ CONICET Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico Puerto Iguazú Argentina
| | - C. De Angelo
- Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico Puerto Iguazú Argentina
- Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra Biodiversidad y Ambiente (ICBIA) Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto (UNRC) – CONICET Río Cuarto Argentina
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Widodo FA, Imron MA, Sunarto S, Giordano AJ. Carnivores and their prey in Sumatra: Occupancy and activity in human-dominated forests. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265440. [PMID: 35303739 PMCID: PMC8932565 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the effect of anthropogenic disturbance, and its interaction with carnivores and their prey, is crucial to support the conservation of threatened carnivores, particularly in rapidly changing landscapes. Based on systematic camera-trap sampling of four protected areas in Riau Province of central Sumatra, we assessed the habitat occupancy and spatiotemporal overlap between people, potential carnivore prey, and four threatened species of medium-sized or large carnivores: Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Malayan sun bears (Helarctos malayanus), dholes (Cuon alpinus), and Sunda clouded leopards (Neofelis diardi). To assess spatial overlap of target species, we used single-species occupancy models and applied a Species Interaction Factor (SIF) to conditional two-species occupancy models. We also used kernel density estimation (KDE) to assess temporal overlap among these species. Our habitat use models showed that altitude (elevation) strongly influenced the occupancy of all large carnivores and potential prey species. Except for Sunda clouded leopards, the occurrence of large carnivore species was positively related to the spatial co-occurrence of humans (SIF > 1). In addition, we found that sun bears and dholes both exhibited high spatial overlap with tigers, and that sun bears alone exhibited high temporal overlap with people. Our findings contribute to an improved understanding of the contemporary ecology of carnivores and their prey in rapidly changing, southeast Asian landscapes. Such knowledge is important to the conservation and recovery of large carnivores in conservation hotspots that are increasingly dominated by humans across Sumatra, as well as globally.
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Affiliation(s)
- Febri Anggriawan Widodo
- World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia, Central Sumatra, Pekanbaru, Indonesia
- Wildlife Laboratory, Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- S.P.E.C.I.E.S. – The Society for the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study, Ventura, California, United States of America
- International Development Studies, Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands
| | - Muhammad Ali Imron
- Wildlife Laboratory, Faculty of Forestry, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- S.P.E.C.I.E.S. – The Society for the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study, Ventura, California, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Sunarto Sunarto
- Institute for Sustainable Earth and Resources (I-SER), University of Indonesia, Depok, Indonesia
| | - Anthony J. Giordano
- S.P.E.C.I.E.S. – The Society for the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores and their International Ecological Study, Ventura, California, United States of America
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Facilitative interaction promotes occupancy of a desert amphibian across a climate gradient. Oecologia 2022; 198:815-823. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-022-05127-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Hernandez-Puentes C, Torre I, Vilella M. Spatio-temporal interactions within a Mediterranean community of Mesocarnivores. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-022-00230-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Vissia S, van Langevelde F. The effect of body size on co‐occurrence patterns within an African carnivore guild. WILDLIFE BIOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/wlb3.01004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sander Vissia
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen Univ. Wageningen the Netherlands
| | - Frank van Langevelde
- Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group, Wageningen Univ. Wageningen the Netherlands
- School of Life Sciences, Westville Campus, Univ. of KwaZulu‐Natal Durban South Africa
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Ngoprasert D, Steinmetz R, Sribuarod K, Gale GA. The overlap of sympatric sun bears and Asiatic black bears in space and time. Mamm Biol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s42991-021-00201-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Zanón Martínez JI, Seoane J, Kelly MJ, Sarasola JH, Travaini A. Assessing carnivore spatial co-occurrence and temporal overlap in the face of human interference in a semiarid forest. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2022; 32:e02482. [PMID: 34674337 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2482] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2020] [Revised: 03/27/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Apex predators drive top-down effects in ecosystems and the loss of such species can trigger mesopredator release. This ecological process has been well documented in human-modified small areas, but for management and conservation of ecological communities, it is important to know which human factors affect apex predator occurrence and which mediate mesopredators release at large scales. We hypothesized that mesopredators would avoid spatial and temporal overlap with the apex predator, the puma; but that human perturbations (i.e., cattle raising and trophy hunting) would dampen top-down effects and mediate habitat use. We installed 16 camera traps in each of 45, 10 × 10 km grid cells in the Caldén forest region of central Argentina resulting in 706 total stations covering 61,611 km2 . We used single-season occupancy and two-species co-occurrence models and calculated the species interaction factor (SIF) to explore the contributions of habitat, biotic, and anthropic variables in explaining co-occurrence between carnivore pairs. We also used kernel density estimation techniques to analyze temporal overlap in activity patterns of the carnivore guild. We found that puma habitat use increased with abundance of large prey and with proximity to protected areas. Geoffroy's cats and skunks spatially avoided pumas and this effect was strong and mediated by distance to protected areas and game reserves, but pumas did not influence pampas fox and pampas cat space use. At medium and low levels of puma occupancy, we found evidence of spatial avoidance between three pairs of mesocarnivores. All predators were mostly nocturnal and crepuscular across seasons and mesopredators showed little consistent evidence of changing activity patterns with varying levels of puma occupancy or human interference. We found potential for mesopredator release at large scale, especially on the spatial niche axis. Our results suggest that a combination of interacting factors, in conjunction with habitat features and intervening human activities, may make mesopredator release unlikely or difficult to discern at broad scales. Overall, we believe that promoting the creation of new protected areas linked by small forest patches would likely lead to increased predator and prey abundances, as well as the interactions among carnivores inside and outside of protected areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan I Zanón Martínez
- Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Avenida Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
- Centro para el Estudio y Conservación de las Aves Rapaces en Argentina, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Avenida Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
| | - Javier Seoane
- Terrestrial Ecology Group-TEG, Department of Ecology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, C/Darwin, 2, 28049, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global (CIBC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Marcella J Kelly
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, 146 Cheatham Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061-0321, USA
| | - José Hernán Sarasola
- Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra y Ambientales de La Pampa, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Avenida Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
- Centro para el Estudio y Conservación de las Aves Rapaces en Argentina, Universidad Nacional de La Pampa, Avenida Uruguay 151, 6300, Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina
| | - Alejandro Travaini
- Centro de Investigación de Puerto Deseado, Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral, CONICET, Avenida Prefectura Naval s/n, 9050, Puerto Deseado, Santa Cruz, Argentina
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Deng S, Li J, Qu Y, He J, Liu K, Xue H, Cui P, Ruan X, Wu H. Camera trap reveals the co-occurrence patterns of two sympatric muntjac species in southern Anhui Province, China: No spatial segregation. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:17801-17809. [PMID: 35003640 PMCID: PMC8717271 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.8307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2021] [Revised: 10/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The competitive relationship and coexistence pattern among close related species have long been one of the hot issues in ecological research. Interspecies interactions can exert important influences on the local distribution of rare species. Black muntjac Muntiacus crinifrons is an endemic species to eastern China, currently restricted to limited regions. In contrast, Chinese muntjac Muntiacus reevesi is the most common and widespread deer in southern China. Both species co-occur in southern Anhui and western Zhejiang Province. Little is known about the interaction of these two sympatric-related species. In this study, to investigate the site use determinants and co-occurrence pattern of the two sympatric muntjac species, we conducted a camera trap survey across about 250 km2 in mountainous area of southern Anhui Province, China. We adopted a multistep approach to incorporate habitat preferences while modeling occupancy and detection. We found that the two species did not separate along elevation gradient (range from 400 m to 1,400 m) as described in previous studies. Results of single-species occupancy models indicated that elevation had positive effects on the site use of both species, while slope had an opposite influence on their site use. Positive effects of elevation on the site use implied that both species try to avoid human interference at low elevations. Significant negative effect of slope on the site use of black muntjac suggested that the species prefer habitat with gentle slope and avoided steep. Co-occurrence models and species interaction factors provided evidence that the two muntjac species had an independent occupancy (ψ BM CM = ψ BM cm, SIF = 1) and exhibited a positive species interaction in detection probability (p BM < r BM CM). Combined with the results of previous studies, we suggested that it was fine differentiation in microhabitats and food resources utilization rather spatial or temporal segregation that allowed the two species co-occurrence. The site use determinants revealed in our study would be useful for the habitat conservation and restoration for the rare black muntjac, and the co-occurrence pattern of the two sympatric muntjac species could provide useful information for deep understanding of the coexistence mechanism among forest-dwelling ungulates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuaitao Deng
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co‐founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of EducationProvincial Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecological Safety in AnhuiSchool of Ecology and EnvironmentAnhui Normal UniversityWuhuChina
- Shanghai Wildlife and Protected Natural Areas Research CenterShanghaiChina
| | - Jiaqi Li
- Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental SciencesNanjingChina
| | - Yashu Qu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co‐founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of EducationProvincial Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecological Safety in AnhuiSchool of Ecology and EnvironmentAnhui Normal UniversityWuhuChina
| | - Jun He
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co‐founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of EducationProvincial Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecological Safety in AnhuiSchool of Ecology and EnvironmentAnhui Normal UniversityWuhuChina
| | - Kai Liu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co‐founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of EducationProvincial Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecological Safety in AnhuiSchool of Ecology and EnvironmentAnhui Normal UniversityWuhuChina
| | - Hui Xue
- College of Life SciencesAnhui Normal UniversityWuhuChina
| | - Peng Cui
- Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People's Republic of ChinaNanjing Institute of Environmental SciencesNanjingChina
| | - Xiangdong Ruan
- Academy of Inventory and PlanningNational Forestry and Grassland AdministrationBeijingChina
| | - Hailong Wu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Recovery and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystem in Wanjiang Basin Co‐founded by Anhui Province and Ministry of EducationProvincial Key Laboratory of Biotic Environment and Ecological Safety in AnhuiSchool of Ecology and EnvironmentAnhui Normal UniversityWuhuChina
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Phumanee W, Steinmetz R, Phoonjampa R, Bejraburnin T, Bhumpakphan N, Savini T. Coexistence of large carnivore species in relation to their major prey in Thailand. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
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41
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Staudenmaier AR, Shipley LA, Bibelnieks AJ, Camp MJ, Thornton DH. Habitat use and spatio‐temporal interactions of mule and white‐tailed deer in an area of sympatry in NE Washington. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Anna R. Staudenmaier
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington 99164 USA
| | - Lisa A. Shipley
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington 99164 USA
| | - Andris J. Bibelnieks
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics Washington State University Pullman Washington 99164 USA
| | - Meghan J. Camp
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington 99164 USA
| | - Daniel H. Thornton
- School of the Environment Washington State University Pullman Washington 99164 USA
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42
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Kupferman CA, Crupi AP, Waits LP, Gilbert SL. Spatial and temporal partitioning of mustelids in Southeast Alaska. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3827] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin A. Kupferman
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory University of Georgia P.O. Drawer E Aiken South Carolina 29802 USA
| | - Anthony P. Crupi
- Alaska Department of Fish and Game 802 3rd Street Douglas Alaska 99824 USA
| | - Lisette P. Waits
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1136 Moscow Idaho 83844 USA
| | - Sophie L. Gilbert
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1136 Moscow Idaho 83844 USA
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43
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Rodriguez Curras M, Donadío E, Middleton AD, Pauli JN. Perceived risk structures the space use of competing carnivores. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Competition structures ecological communities. In carnivorans, competitive interactions are disproportionately costly to subordinate carnivores who must account for the risk of interspecific killing when foraging. Accordingly, missed opportunity costs for meso-carnivores imposed by risk can benefit the smallest-bodied competitors. However, the extent to which the risk perpetuates into spatial partitioning in hierarchically structured communities remains unknown. To determine how risk-avoidance behaviors shape the space-use of carnivore communities, we studied a simple community of carnivores in northern Patagonia, Argentina: pumas (Puma concolor; an apex carnivore), culpeo foxes (Lycalopex culpaeus; a meso-carnivore), and chilla foxes (Lycalopex griseus; a small carnivore). We used multi-species occupancy models to quantify the space use within the carnivore community and giving-up densities to understand the behaviors that structure space use. Notably, we applied an analytical framework that tests whether the actual or perceived risk of predation most strongly influences the space use of subordinate carnivores although accounting for their foraging and vigilance behaviors. We found that there was a dominance hierarchy from the apex carnivore through the meso-carnivore to the subordinate small carnivore, which was reflected in space. Although both meso- and small carnivores exhibited similar predator avoidance behavioral responses to apex carnivores, the habitat associations of apex carnivores only altered meso-carnivore space use. The biases in risk management we observed for meso-carnivores likely translates into stable co-existence of this community of competing carnivores. We believe our analytical framework can be extended to other communities to quantify the spatial-behavioral tradeoffs of risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mauriel Rodriguez Curras
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Forest and Wildlife Ecology, 1630 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
| | - Emiliano Donadío
- INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional Comahue, 8400 Bariloche, Argentina
| | - Arthur D Middleton
- University of California-Berkeley, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 130 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pauli
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Forest and Wildlife Ecology, 1630 Linden Dr., Madison, WI 53706, USA
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44
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Gálvez N, Infante J, Fernandez A, Díaz J, Petracca L. Land use intensification coupled with free‐roaming dogs as potential defaunation drivers of mesocarnivores in agricultural landscapes. J Appl Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás Gálvez
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Villarrica Campus Wildlife Ecology and Coexistence Laboratory Centre for Research in Local Development Villarrica Chile
| | - José Infante
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Villarrica Campus Wildlife Ecology and Coexistence Laboratory Centre for Research in Local Development Villarrica Chile
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Fauna Australis Wildlife Laboratory Department of Ecosystems and Environment School of Agronomy and Forestry Santiago Chile
| | - Adrián Fernandez
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Villarrica Campus Wildlife Ecology and Coexistence Laboratory Centre for Research in Local Development Villarrica Chile
| | - Jesús Díaz
- Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Villarrica Campus Wildlife Ecology and Coexistence Laboratory Centre for Research in Local Development Villarrica Chile
| | - Lisanne Petracca
- Washington Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences University of Washington Seattle WA USA
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Lonsinger RC, Knight RN, Waits LP. Detection criteria and post-field sample processing influence results and cost efficiency of occupancy-based monitoring. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2021; 31:e02404. [PMID: 34231272 DOI: 10.1002/eap.2404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Revised: 02/21/2021] [Accepted: 03/22/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Optimization of occupancy-based monitoring has focused on balancing the number of sites and surveys to minimize field efforts and costs. When survey techniques require post-field processing of samples to confirm species detections, there may be opportunities to further improve efficiency. We used scat-based noninvasive genetic sampling for kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) in Utah, USA, as a model system to assess post-field data processing strategies, evaluate the impacts of these strategies on estimates of occupancy and associations between parameters and predictors, and identify the most cost-effective approach. We identified scats with three criteria that varied in costs and reliability: (1) field-based identification (expert opinion), (2) statistical-based morphological identification, and (3) genetic-based identification (mitochondrial DNA). We also considered four novel post-field sample processing strategies that integrated statistical and genetic identifications to reduce costly genetic procedures, including (4) a combined statistical-genetic identification, (5) a genetic removal design, (6) a within-survey conditional-replicate design, and (7) a single-genetic-replicate with false-positive modeling design. We considered results based on genetic identification as the best approximation of truth and used this to evaluate the performance of alternatives. Field-based and statistical-based criteria prone to misidentification produced estimates of occupancy that were biased high (˜1.8 and 2.1 times higher than estimates without misidentifications, respectively). These criteria failed to recover associations between parameters and predictors consistent with genetic identification. The genetic removal design performed poorly, with limited detections leading to estimates that were biased high with poor precision and patterns inconsistent with genetic identification. Both statistical-genetic identification and the conditional-replicate design produced occupancy estimates comparable to genetic identification, while recovering the same model structure and associations at cost reductions of 67% and 74%, respectively. The false-positive design had the lowest cost (88% reduction) and recovered patterns consistent with genetic identification but had occupancy estimates that were ˜32% lower than estimated occupancy based on genetic identification. Our results demonstrate that careful consideration of detection criteria and post-field data processing can reduce costs without significantly altering resulting inferences. Combined with earlier guidance on sampling designs for occupancy modeling, these findings can aid managers in optimizing occupancy-based monitoring.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert C Lonsinger
- Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, 57007, USA
| | - Robert N Knight
- United States Army Dugway Proving Ground, Natural Resource Program, Dugway, Utah, 84022, USA
| | - Lisette P Waits
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Sciences, University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, 83844, USA
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46
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Habitat-dependent effects of predatory spiders on prey frogs in a Neotropical wet forest. JOURNAL OF TROPICAL ECOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1017/s0266467421000274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
AbstractIn seasonal wet Neotropical forests, many studies have suggested that species-rich terrestrial frog assemblages are regulated bottom-up by the abundance of leaf litter. However, terrestrial frogs are prey to a diverse community of predators, and no studies have tested for top-down effects of predators on this or other anuran assemblages. Here, we used an extensive field dataset to model the relative contribution of food resources, microhabitat resources and predators towards the occupancy and detection of two frog species (Craugastor bransfordii and Oophaga pumilio) at La Selva, Costa Rica. Frog occupancy was most strongly influenced by predatory spiders and secondarily influenced by the abundance of leaf litter. Predators exerted stronger effects on frogs than food resources, and frogs avoided predators more as leaf litter decreased. Detection probability was elevated when predators were present. We found support for bottom-up effects of leaf litter on the terrestrial frog assemblage, but top-down effects by predators exerted stronger effects on frog occupancy and detection. Because predator avoidance varied along a resource gradient, predator and resource effects appear to be dependent, supporting interactions between top-down and bottom-up mechanisms. Climate-driven decreases in leaf litter may drive decreased availability of frog refugia and increased interactions between frogs and predators.
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47
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Few Impacts of Introduced Cutthroat Trout (Oncorhynchus clarki) on Aquatic Stages of Boreal Toads (Anaxyrus boreas boreas). J HERPETOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1670/20-033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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48
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Livestock grazing affects movements and activity pattern of Italian roe deer in Southern Italy. EUR J WILDLIFE RES 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10344-021-01506-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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49
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MacKenzie DI, Lombardi JV, Tewes ME. A note on investigating co-occurrence patterns and dynamics for many species, with imperfect detection and a log-linear modeling parameterization. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:8507-8515. [PMID: 34257913 PMCID: PMC8258208 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7604] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2020] [Revised: 03/09/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Patterns in, and the underlying dynamics of, species co-occurrence is of interest in many ecological applications. Unaccounted for, imperfect detection of the species can lead to misleading inferences about the nature and magnitude of any interaction. A range of different parameterizations have been published that could be used with the same fundamental modeling framework that accounts for imperfect detection, although each parameterization has different advantages and disadvantages.We propose a parameterization based on log-linear modeling that does not require a species hierarchy to be defined (in terms of dominance) and enables a numerically robust approach for estimating covariate effects.Conceptually, the parameterization is equivalent to using the presence of species in the current, or a previous, time period as predictor variables for the current occurrence of other species. This leads to natural, "symmetric," interpretations of parameter estimates.The parameterization can be applied to many species, in either a maximum likelihood or Bayesian estimation framework. We illustrate the method using camera-trapping data collected on three mesocarnivore species in South Texas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darryl I. MacKenzie
- ProteusOutramNew Zealand
- Department of Mathematics and StatisticsUniversity of OtagoDunedinNew Zealand
| | - Jason V. Lombardi
- Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research InstituteTexas A&M University‐KingsvilleKingsvilleTXUSA
| | - Michael E. Tewes
- Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research InstituteTexas A&M University‐KingsvilleKingsvilleTXUSA
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50
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Beltrami E, Gálvez N, Osorio C, Kelly MJ, Morales-Moraga D, Bonacic C. Ravines as conservation strongholds for small wildcats under pressure from free-ranging dogs and cats in Mediterranean landscapes of Chile. STUDIES ON NEOTROPICAL FAUNA AND ENVIRONMENT 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/01650521.2021.1933691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Esperanza Beltrami
- Graduate School of Veterinary Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Nicolás Gálvez
- Pontificia Universidad Católica De Chile, Wildlife Ecology and Coexistence Laboratory, Centre in Research of Local Development (CEDEL), Villarrica, Chile
| | - Christian Osorio
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA
- Department of Ecology, Proyecto Carnívoros Australes, Región del Maule, Chile
| | - Marcella J. Kelly
- Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA
| | - David Morales-Moraga
- Center of Global Change, Department of Ecosystems and the Environment, School of Agronomy and Forestry, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Cristian Bonacic
- Fauna Australis Wildlife Laboratory, Department of Ecosystems and the Environment, School of Agronomy and Forestry, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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