Effects of prey abundance on carnivore populations in the Faragosa-Fura landscape of the Southern Rift Valley, Ethiopia

Abstract

Understanding how prey abundance affects carnivore species' abundance in sites is critical for the conservation of both prey species and carnivore species. However, research on the effects of prey species on multiple carnivore species in a human dominated landscape in the Southern Rift Valley of Ethiopia is largely untested. Our central premise was that the abundance of carnivores varies with potential prey abundance in different sites. To test this, we divided the study area into 15 grid cells (2 km x 2 km) and installed a camera trap in each grid for four seasons between 2020 and 2021. The results showed a total of 400 photographs of eight carnivore species, of which white-tailed mongoose and common genet were the most common, while leopards were the rarest. Except for the leopard, the record frequencies of all species varied significantly between camera stations. The Shannon diversity index and evenness index of carnivores for the study area were 1.868 and 0.809, respectively. A total of 28 prey species were identified, of which 13 were birds and 15 were mammals. Overall, the record frequency of prey species was 801, of which 288 were birds and 513 were mammals. Primates and medium-sized ungulates were the most abundant species among prey groups. Medium ungulates and large birds both had a significant positive relationship with carnivore abundance, and they contributed to 76.92% of the carnivore abundance in sites. The community structure analysis showed African civet, common genet, leopard, spotted hyena and white-tailed mongoose were positively correlated with medium ungulates and large bird prey groups. A species-specific model showed the spotted hyena prefers areas with a high abundance of both large and medium ungulates, while the other species mainly prefer areas with medium ungulates and/or large birds. Our findings support the importance of prey groups' abundance for carnivore conservation in the human-dominated rural landscape of the Southern Rift Valley of Ethiopia • The effect of prey species abundance on carnivore populations in a human-dominated landscape are largely untested. • Carnivore abundance were assessed using camera trapping survey. • White-tailed mongoose and common genet were the most common, while leopard was the rarest. • Primates and medium-sized ungulates were the most abundant prey species.. • Medium ungulates and large birds were the most important predictors and contributing more for carnivore abundance in sites.