Abstract
Interaction among species through competition is a principle process structuring ecological communities, affecting behavior, distribution, and ultimately the population dynamics of species. High competition among large African carnivores, associated with extensive diet overlap, manifests in interactions between subordinate African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and dominant lions (Panthera leo) and spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta). Using locations of large carnivores in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, South Africa, we found different responses from wild dogs to their two main competitors. Wild dogs avoided lions, particularly during denning, through a combination of spatial and temporal avoidance. However, wild dogs did not exhibit spatial or temporal avoidance of spotted hyenas, likely because wild dog pack sizes were large enough to adequately defend their kills. Understanding that larger carnivores affect the movements and space use of other carnivores is important for managing current small and fragmented carnivore populations, especially as reintroductions and translocations are essential tools used for the survival of endangered species, as with African wild dogs.
Highlights
Large carnivores play a key role in regulating terrestrial ecosystems [1], and competition between them is considered a key ecological factor affecting carnivore species within the same guild [2]
Our results support the hypothesis that African wild dogs utilize space differently relative to their two main competitors in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park
Wild dogs remained further from lions than from hyenas, and their core use areas and 3dimensional space use overlapped significantly more with hyenas than with lions. These results are consistent with Webster et al [51] who found that wild dogs actively avoid lions more than they avoid hyenas
Summary
Large carnivores play a key role in regulating terrestrial ecosystems [1], and competition between them is considered a key ecological factor affecting carnivore species within the same guild [2]. Carnivores of the same guild may compete for similar prey resources, often resulting in smaller species either being excluded from, or actively avoiding, areas with higher densities of the larger competitor [6,7,8]. In Nepal, leopards (Panthera pardus) avoided habitats where tiger (Panthera tigris) densities were high [9], while another study found a significant pattern of avoidance of spotted hyenas (Crocuta crocuta) by the smaller brown hyenas (Hyaena brunnea; Mills & Mills, 1982). Studies have suggested that gray wolves (Canis lupus) displace and exclude coyotes (Canis latrans) from preferred habitat [11]. These studies illustrate the widespread pattern of avoidance and exclusion of smaller carnivores with less competitive advantage due to interference competition. Competition between intraguild carnivores can confine spatial distributions, restrict habitat use, reduce prey encounter rates and food intake, and increase mortality of competitors [6]
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