Abstract
The partition of the ecological niche can enhance the coexistence of predators due to differences in how they exploit three main resources: food, space, and time, the latter being an axis that often remains unexplored.We studied niche segregation in a Mediterranean mesocarnivore community composed by Vulpes vulpes, Genetta genetta, Meles meles, and Herpestes ichneumon, addressing simultaneously different niche axes: the temporal, trophic, and spatial axes.We assessed temporal segregation between mesopredators and prey and between potential competitors, using camera trap data between 2018 and 2020 in a Mediterranean landscape in Southern Spain. We deployed camera traps in 35 stations in three sites with varying vegetation cover within Doñana National Park. We further examined the spatial overlap in activity centers and trophic preferences between potential competitors using diet information from studies performed in the study area.We found an overall temporal segregation between trophic generalist species, with species showing higher temporal overlap differing in their trophic preferences and/or showing limited spatial overlap. Furthermore, we observed an overall high overlap between the activity patterns of predators and their major prey in the area (the common genet vs. small mammals and the red fox vs. European rabbit).Our study suggests that coexistence of the different species that compose the mesocarnivore assemblage in Mediterranean landscapes can be facilitated by subtle differences along the three main niche axes, with temporal segregation being a most pronounced mechanism. Our findings reinforce the idea that the coexistence mechanisms underlying community structure are multidimensional.
Highlights
Understanding the mechanisms that promote coexistence of species with similar ecological requirements is a central topic in community ecology, where competitive interactions between species have the potential to affect diversity patterns by limiting or promoting coexistence (Chesson, 2000)
We found that temporal segregation facilitates co-occurrence of mesocarnivore species with similar trophic requirements, but that spatial segregation is discernible even at fine scale for species with high temporal and trophic overlap, with the larger mesocarnivores actively avoiding each other, putatively to not engage in intraguild killing (IGK)
We found that the common genet has a narrower diet spectrum and showed higher levels of temporal overlap with its main prey, whereas such synchrony does not occur with the activity patterns of the red-legged partridge
Summary
Understanding the mechanisms that promote coexistence of species with similar ecological requirements is a central topic in community ecology, where competitive interactions between species have the potential to affect diversity patterns by limiting or promoting coexistence (Chesson, 2000). A large variability and plasticity in activity patterns has been documented for mammals (Bennie et al, 2014) being mainly determined by circadian endogenous boundaries (Kronfeld-Schor & Dayan, 2003), and shaped by external factors (Monterroso et al, 2014; Zielinski, 1986). This diversity of diel cycles could be due to the plastic nature of behavioral responses to different pressures, which may in turn induce marked variations in daily rhythms among different scenarios (Ensing et al, 2014; Gaynor et al, 2018). High temporal overlap between carnivores and their putative prey has been reported in some predator-prey systems (Linkie & Ridout, 2011), whereas in others, asynchronous activity peaks have been reported (Arias-Del Razo et al, 2011; Díaz-Ruiz et al, 2016)
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