“When the felid’s away, the mesocarnivores play”: seasonal temporal segregation in a neotropical carnivore guild

Finnegan, SP, Gantchoff, MG, Hill, JE, Silveira, L, Tôrres, NM, Jácomo, AT and Uzal, A ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6478-1895, 2021. “When the felid’s away, the mesocarnivores play”: seasonal temporal segregation in a neotropical carnivore guild. Mammalian Biology. ISSN 1616-5047

Preview

Text 1424708_a1599_Uzal.pdf - Post-print Download (718kB) | Preview

Abstract

Interspecific competition within a carnivore guild can result in segregation along dietary, spatial, and temporal scales. Species interactions and resulting avoidance behavior can change seasonally as landscape features and resource abundance may fluctuate. In this study, we examined a carnivore guild in the Pantanal wetland of Brazil to determine whether temporal niche partitioning was a mechanism for coexistence, and if this differed between the wet and dry season. We used camera trapping data to fit kernel density functions of time observations for five species of carnivores to determine activity patterns. We calculated the coefficient of overlap between all species-pair’s activity patterns. Our results found support for temporal segregation among this carnivore guild, with stronger segregation evident during the dry season. Jaguars and pumas showed large overlap in activity in both seasons, while all three mesocarnivores (ocelot, tayra, and crab-eating fox) showed temporal avoidance toward pumas. Mesocarnivores displayed segregating temporal patterns between pairs in both seasons. Temporal segregation is a mechanism for coexistence within this carnivore guild, suggesting increased competition between species especially during the dry season. To maintain carnivore populations, a broader knowledge of interspecific interactions and how this may affect species, utilization or avoidance of habitats is needed. Given the complexities of interspecific interactions among carnivores, conservation efforts should address the needs of the entire guild rather than focus on a single species.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Mammalian Biology
Creators:	Finnegan, S.P., Gantchoff, M.G., Hill, J.E., Silveira, L., Tôrres, N.M., Jácomo, A.T. and Uzal, A.
Publisher:	Springer
Date:	8 March 2021
ISSN:	1616-5047
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1007/s42991-021-00110-9 DOI 1424708 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	15 Mar 2021 20:54
Last Modified:	08 Mar 2022 03:00
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/42516

Actions (login required)

Edit View

Statistics

Views

Downloads