Abstract

AbstractUnderstanding the mechanisms facilitating coexistence within species assemblages is a key consideration for conservation as intact assemblages are necessary for maintaining full ecosystem function. The African large predator guild represents one of the few remaining functionally intact large predator assemblages on Earth, and as such, represents a unique study system to understand competitive interactions. Yet, relatively little is known of the coexistence mechanisms between some of its intermediately sized members, particularly leopards (Panthera pardus). Here, we use overlapping spatio‐temporal activity and GPS data on lions (Panthera leo), leopards, African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) to examine spatial interactions and temporal partitioning between leopards and other guild members in northern Botswana. We found that at the population level, male leopard space use and activity patterns were largely unaffected by intraguild competitors. Leopards showed minimal movement coherence with competitors (avoidance or attraction) when moving through areas of home ranges shared with intraguild species. Moreover, we found evidence to support the hypothesis that guild species’ activity patterns are primarily driven by light availability rather than predator avoidance. Our results suggest predator avoidance has a limited impact on broad‐scale leopard spatio‐temporal niches, with aspects of the leopards’ ecology and life history likely facilitating its ability to thrive in close proximity to competitors. Considered alongside other studies, our results suggest that landscape‐level approaches to conservation may be suitable for aiding leopard conservation.

Highlights

  • Competition is an important structuring force within species assemblages and can impact species distributions (Berger & Gese, 2007), densities (Creel & Creel, 1996), population dynamics (Chesson & Kuang, 2008) and behaviours

  • We found limited evidence for spatial or temporal avoidance between male leopards and other large predator guild species within our study system

  • Our results support the hypothesis that, at a population level, male leopards are minimally impacted by guild members in terms of broad-scale space use and activity (Balme et al, 2017b; Miller et al, 2018)

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Summary

Introduction

Competition is an important structuring force within species assemblages and can impact species distributions (Berger & Gese, 2007), densities (Creel & Creel, 1996), population dynamics (Chesson & Kuang, 2008) and behaviours (e.g. space and time use; Mori, Ferretti, & Fattorini, 2019). These processes can be impacted through exploitation competition, where species respond to limited resource availability caused by competitor resource use (Sara et al, 2005). Within some ecosystems, spatial and temporal partitioning are thought to be key components in facilitating coexistence between competitors (Durant, 1998; Hayward & Slotow, 2009)

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