29In the multi-functional and biodiverse cork oak landscapes of Iberia (Montado), agro-silvo-pastoral 30 practices promote landscape heterogeneity and create intricate habitat and resource availability 31 patterns. We used camera-traps to investigate the temporal and spatial organisation of a mesocarnivore 32 community in a Montado landscape in central Portugal. The target carnivore assemblage was largely 33 dominated by three generalist species -the red fox Vulpes vulpes, the European badger Meles meles 34 and the Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon -while remaining community members -the 35 common genet Genetta genetta and the feral cat Felis silvestris spp. -exhibited restricted 36 distributions. Interspecific differences in activity rhythms and habitat use were particularly marked 37 among widespread species. Low temporal overlap was reported between the diurnal mongoose and 38 predominantly nocturnal red fox and badger. For the latter two species, contrasting differences in 39 habitat use were associated with anthropogenic-induced environmental heterogeneity. Whereas the 40 red fox used more intensively Montado areas preserving dense shrubby understory and avoided semi-41 disturbed mosaics of sparse shrubs, the badgers displayed the opposite pattern. Our findings add to 42 previous evidence suggesting that the spatial structure created in highly managed landscapes, 43 particularly the diversity of resulting understory structures, promotes the abundance and spread of 44 generalist mesocarnivore species. These may benefit from the surplus of resource amount (e.g. prey) 45 and the creation of different human-made habitats conditions that provide particular combinations of 46 ecological resources favourable to each species requirements. We concur the common view that 47 maintaining understory heterogeneity in Montado landscapes, menaced by current intensification and 48 extensification trends, is important where carnivore persistence is a relevant conservation goal, but 49 alert for potential effects on carnivore assemblages structuring and impacts for specialist species less 50 tolerant to disturbance. 51

Conservation efforts in South Africa play out across multi‐use landscapes where formal protected areas coexist with private wildlife business (ecotourism and/or hunting) in a human‐dominated matrix. Despite the persistence of highly diverse carnivore guilds, management idiosyncrasies are often orientated towards charismatic large predators and assemblage‐level patterns remain largely unexplored. We conducted an extensive camera‐trap survey in a natural quasi‐experimental setting in KwaZulu‐Natal, South Africa. We sampled across a protection gradient characterized by a provincial protected area (highest and formal protection status), a private ecotourism reserve, game ranches and traditional communal areas (lowest protected status). We evaluated assemblage‐level and species‐specific responses of free‐ranging carnivores to the varying management contexts and associated environmental gradients. Despite similar assemblage composition between management contexts, site‐scale carnivore richness and occupancy rates were greater in the formal protected area than adjacent private reserve and game ranches. Carnivore occupancy was more similar between these private wildlife areas, although putative problem species were more common in the private reserve, and contrasted with depauperate assemblages in least protected communal lands. Variation in carnivore occupancy probabilities was largely driven by land use contexts, that is, the level and nature of protection, relative to underlying fine‐scale landscape attributes (e.g. distance to conservation fences) or apex predator populations. Synthesis and applications. Our findings provide convincing empirical support for the added value of multi‐tenure conservation estates augmenting and connecting South Africa's protected areas. However, our emphasis on free‐ranging carnivores exemplifies the importance of maintaining areas under long‐term formal protection and the risks with viewing lucrative wildlife business as a conservation panacea. We suggest that unmanaged carnivore species be the formal components of carnivore reintroduction and recovery programmes to better gauge the complementary conservation role of South Africa's private land.

Theory on intraguild killing (IGK) is central to mammalian carnivore community ecology and top‐down ecosystem regulation. Yet, the cryptic nature of IGK hinders empirical evaluations. Using a novel data source – online photographs of interspecific aggression between African carnivores – we revisited existing predictions about the extent and drivers of IGK. Compared with seminal reviews, our constructed IGK network yielded 10 more species and nearly twice as many interactions. The extent of interactions increased 37% when considering intraguild aggression (direct attack) as a precursor of killing events. We show that IGK occurs over a wider range of body‐mass ratios than predicted by standing competition‐based views, with highly asymmetrical interactions being pervasive. Evidence that large species, particularly hypercarnivore felids, target sympatric carnivores with a wide range of body sizes suggests that current IGK theory is incomplete, underestimating alternative competition pathways and the role of predatory and incidental killing. Our findings reinforce the potential for IGK‐mediated cascades in species‐rich assemblages and community‐wide suppressive effects of large carnivores.

Apex predator reintroductions have proliferated across southern Africa, yet their ecological effects and proposed umbrella benefits of associated management lack empirical evaluations. Despite a rich theory on top-down ecosystem regulation via mesopredator suppression, a knowledge gap exists relating to the influence of lions ( Panthera leo ) over Africa's diverse mesocarnivore (less than 20 kg) communities. We investigate how geographical variation in mesocarnivore community richness and occupancy across South African reserves is associated with the presence of lions. An interesting duality emerged: lion reserves held more mesocarnivore-rich communities, yet mesocarnivore occupancy rates and evenness-weighted diversity were lower in the presence of lions. Human population density in the reserve surroundings had a similarly ubiquitous negative effect on mesocarnivore occupancy. The positive association between species richness and lion presence corroborated the umbrella species concept but translated into small differences in community size. Distributional contractions of mesocarnivore species within lion reserves, and potentially corresponding numerical reductions, suggest within-community mesopredator suppression by lions, probably as a result of lethal encounters and responses to a landscape of fear. Our findings offer empirical support for the theoretical understanding of processes underpinning carnivore community assembly and are of conservation relevance under current large-predator orientated management and conservation paradigms.