Ephemeral temporal partitioning may facilitate coexistence in competing species

Sovie, Adia; Greene, Daniel U.; Frock, Catherine F.; Potash, Alex D.; McCleery, Robert A.

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.020

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Interactions between fox and gray squirrels appear to be the most pronounced at fine scales, which includes interactions on individual trees (Conner et al, 1999). Fox squirrels will change their temporal behavior if they overlap with gray squirrels at individual cameras (Sovie et al, 2019). The competitive advantage of gray squirrels may be moderated by fine-scale vegetation characteristics that increase predation risk such as minimal understory and canopy cover (Caswell, 1978).…”

Section: Fine Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fox squirrels appear to be sensitive to competition and gray squirrels may be replacing fox squirrels in some parts of their range due to their competitive advantage in closed canopy systems (Brown and Batzli, 1985;Sexton, 1990;Sovie, 2019). Fox and gray squirrels partition resources but the scale, how they partition resources over time and space, and the intensity of interactions may change over ecological gradients (Sexton, 1990;Edwards et al, 1998;Derge and Yahner, 2000;Van Der Merwe et al, 2005;Sovie et al, 2019). Moreover, these ecological gradients and partitioning of resources are likely being altered by fragmented landscapes and woody encroachment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Woody Cover Mediates Fox and Gray Squirrel Interactions

2020

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Human activities are changing the environments that animal communities utilize, altering competition and coexistence dynamics as well as changing species distributions. A global consequence of human activity is increased woody cover, which changes environmental conditions on landscape, local, and fine spatial scales. These multi-scale processes are likely to change species interactions and distributions in unexpected ways. To elucidate these effects, we investigated the co-occurrence of two interacting species in a rapidly changing ecosystem. Eastern fox (Sciurus niger) and gray (Sciurus carolinensis) squirrels occur sympatrically throughout the southeastern United States. We used single-season, two-species occupancy modeling to understand what factors influence competition between the squirrels at three spatial scales. We found evidence that fox and gray squirrels compete at fine scales but not at local and landscape scales. The best model to explain fox and gray squirrel co-occurrence at fine scales was an additive fine-scale understory and tree canopy closure model. Increased finescale canopy closure correlated with increased fox and gray squirrel occupancy, while increased fine-scale understory cover correlated with decreased gray and fox squirrel occupancy. Fox squirrel occupancy probability declined in the presence of gray squirrels. The intensity of interaction was modified by fine-scale canopy cover and understory density. These findings support the hypothesis that species interactions can be an important factor in structuring biotic communities; however, the strength of the effect changes across spatial scales. Our results support the importance of considering species interactions at multiple scales when predicting and addressing changes in community composition in human modified and managed systems.

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Section: Fine Scalementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Woody Cover Mediates Fox and Gray Squirrel Interactions

2020

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“…Moreover, activity patterns likely reflect a combination of processes and constraints. For example, small rodents may avoid diurnal predation through nocturnal behaviour, yet be active during daylight in response to food availability, temperature variation, or reduced competition or predation 2 , 13 , 14 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Consistent diel activity patterns of forest mammals among tropical regions

et al. 2022

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An animal’s daily use of time (their “diel activity”) reflects their adaptations, requirements, and interactions, yet we know little about the underlying processes governing diel activity within and among communities. Here we examine whether community-level activity patterns differ among biogeographic regions, and explore the roles of top-down versus bottom-up processes and thermoregulatory constraints. Using data from systematic camera-trap networks in 16 protected forests across the tropics, we examine the relationships of mammals’ diel activity to body mass and trophic guild. Also, we assess the activity relationships within and among guilds. Apart from Neotropical insectivores, guilds exhibited consistent cross-regional activity in relation to body mass. Results indicate that thermoregulation constrains herbivore and insectivore activity (e.g., larger Afrotropical herbivores are ~7 times more likely to be nocturnal than smaller herbivores), while bottom-up processes constrain the activity of carnivores in relation to herbivores, and top-down processes constrain the activity of small omnivores and insectivores in relation to large carnivores’ activity. Overall, diel activity of tropical mammal communities appears shaped by similar processes and constraints among regions reflecting body mass and trophic guilds.

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“…At an urban site (e.g., DMP), food subsidies in the form of trash could reduce seasonal variation in resource competition (Oro et al 2013;. Thus, we would expect patterns of temporal use, particularly in the presence of a competitor, to vary seasonally (Sovie et al 2019). Seasonal variation in temporal response may explain the divergent result for the 2017 SNWR survey, which occurred during the summer months.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal refuges differ between human and natural top-down pressures in a subordinate carnivore

Malhotra

Lima

Harris

2021

Preprint

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Animals exhibit variation in their space and time use across an urban-rural gradient. As the top-down influences of apex predators wane due to human-driven declines, landscape level anthropogenic pressures are rising. Human impacts can be analogous to apex predators in that humans can drive increased mortality in both prey species and carnivores, and impact communities through indirect fear effects and food subsidies. Here, we evaluate the time use of a common mesocarnivore across an urban rural gradient, and test whether it is influenced by the intensity of use of a larger carnivore. Using multiple camera-trap surveys, we compared the temporal response of a small carnivore, the raccoon (Procyon lotor), to the larger coyote (Canis latrans) at four sites across Michigan that represented a gradient of pressure from humans. We found that raccoon time use varied by site and was most unique at the rural extreme. Raccoons consistently did not shift their activity pattern in response to coyotes at the site with the highest anthropogenic pressures despite considerable interannual variation, and instead showed the stronger responses to coyotes at more rural sites. Temporal shifts were characterized by raccoons being more diurnal in areas of high coyote activity. We conclude that raccoons do partition time to avoid coyotes. Our results highlight that the variation in raccoon time use across the entirety of the urban-rural gradient needed to be considered, as anthropogenic pressures may dominate and obscure the dynamics of this interaction. In an increasingly anthropocentric world, to understand species interactions, it is imperative that we consider the entire spectrum of human pressures that it may occur within.

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Ephemeral temporal partitioning may facilitate coexistence in competing species

Cited by 16 publications

References 58 publications

Woody Cover Mediates Fox and Gray Squirrel Interactions

Woody Cover Mediates Fox and Gray Squirrel Interactions

Consistent diel activity patterns of forest mammals among tropical regions

Temporal refuges differ between human and natural top-down pressures in a subordinate carnivore

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