Fine-Scale Habitat Segregation between Two Ecologically Similar Top Predators

Abstract

Similar, coexisting species often segregate along the spatial ecological axis. Here, we examine if two top predators (jaguars and pumas) present different fine-scale habitat use in areas of coexistence, and discuss if the observed pattern can be explained by the risk of interference competition between them. Interference competition theory predicts that pumas should avoid habitats or areas used by jaguars (the dominant species), and as a consequence should present more variability of niche parameters across study areas. We used non-invasive genetic sampling of faeces in 12 different areas and sensor satellite fine-scale habitat indices to answer these questions. Meta-analysis confirmed differences in fine-scale habitat use between jaguars and pumas. Furthermore, average marginality of the realized niches of pumas was more variable than those of jaguars, and tolerance (a measure of niche breadth) was on average 2.2 times higher in pumas than in jaguars, as expected under the interference competition risk hypothesis. The use of sensor satellite fine-scale habitat indices allowed the detection of subtle differences in the environmental characteristics of the habitats used by these two similar top predators, which, as a rule, until now were recorded using the same general habitat types. The detection of fine spatial segregation between these two top predators was scale-dependent.

Lions and leopards coexist without spatial, temporal or demographic effects of interspecific competition

“… Habitat: Subordinate predators are known to use “safer” (lower risk) habitats to reduce the probability of encounters with, and attacks by, dominant competitors (Palomares et al., ; Wilson, Blankenship, Hooten, & Shivik, ). Given that leopards use trees to cache prey and seek refuge from other predators (Balme, Miller et al., ), we predicted that leopards would avoid harmful interactions with lions by occupying habitat in which they could climb or hide rather than open habitat, where they would be less able to escape (Balme, Pitman et al., ). Human : We anticipated that leopards might be forced to use suboptimal areas with high human presence to avoid lions (Harihar, Pandav, & Goyal, ).…”

An Updated Species List of Medium and Large-Sized Mammals of the Augusto Ruschi Biological Reserve, Using a Novel Sampling Design

“…This methodological approach ensures the broadest representation of microhabitat characteristics and potential resource usage across the study area, which efficiently increases the diversity of species recorded (Magurran 1988). The EVI permits broad environmental representation across different spatial and temporal scales, enabling multi-scale analyses (Fernández 2013, Palomares et al 2016. Therefore, it has advantages over local representations of phytophysionomies or vegetation formations, which have more homogeneous spatial and temporal patterns (Fernández 2013, Palomares et al 2016.…”

“…The EVI permits broad environmental representation across different spatial and temporal scales, enabling multi-scale analyses (Fernández 2013, Palomares et al 2016. Therefore, it has advantages over local representations of phytophysionomies or vegetation formations, which have more homogeneous spatial and temporal patterns (Fernández 2013, Palomares et al 2016.…”

Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids

“…In other areas from Amazon basin, we found an apparently low scraping behaviour for any species (F Palomares, pers. obs., 2004 and 2009), while surveying for faeces ( Palomares et al, 2012 ; Palomares et al, 2016 ). In other areas such as the Pantanal, jaguars also seem to scrape infrequently ( Schaller & Crawshaw Jr, 1980 ).…”

“…We also analysed the faeces or urine we found over scrapes to try to determine species making scrapes (see below), and for this analysis, in addition to the data gathered in our main study areas, we also included other cases obtained along surveys in other areas from Latin-America such as the Viruá National Park in the Amazon basin (Brazil), the Ecological Reserve El Zapotal in Quintana Roo (México), and in Los Ocotones and La Cojolita in Chiapas (México; Fig. 2 ; details of these surveys and areas in Palomares et al, 2012 ; Palomares et al, 2016 ).…”