Abstract
Domestic or free-ranging dogs (Canislupusfamiliaris) can have deleterious effects on wildlife, acting as predators or competitors to native species. These impacts can be highly important in fragmented pristine habitats or well-preserved areas located in human dominated landscapes and where biodiversity values are usually high, such as those in southeastern Brazil. Here we explored the level of overlap or mismatch in the distributions of activity patterns of rural free-ranging dogs and potential wild prey (Didelphisaurita, Cuniculuspaca; Sylvilagusbrasiliensis) and a wild predator (Leoparduspardalis) in areas of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. We further explored the possible influence of the wild predator on the dog presence pattern detected in the territory analyzed. Our camera-trap data (714 camera-trap days) showed that while rural free-ranging dogs display a cathemeral activity pattern, with activity peaks at dusk and dawn, ocelot and prey species are mainly nocturnal. Moreover, we found no evidence of an effect of ocelot presence, the distance to human houses and the presence of native forests on site occupancy by dogs. The ocelot activity patterns in this study were similar to those already reported in previous studies. On the other hand, previous studies have indicated that that free-ranging dogs are often reported to be more diurnal, and it seems that the rural free-ranging dogs in our study area may have adjusted their behaviour to be more active at dawn and dusk periods. This might be to both maintain some overlap with potential prey, e.g. Sylvilagusbrasiliensis, and also to avoid ocelots by being less active in periods when this predator is more active (which also coincides with peaks in activity for potential prey species). We hypothesize that the presence of ocelots might be influencing the temporal niche dimension of rural free-ranging dogs. As a sustainable management strategy, we propose conserving territories to promote the presence of medium to large predators in natural areas, in order to control free-ranging dogs and protect their vertebrate prey species.
Highlights
Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were the first mammals to be domesticated by humans (Morey 1994), and occur on every continent, with an estimated global population of more than 500 million (Vanak and Gompper 2009)
From a total of 714 camera-trap days (17 cameras-trap running for 42 days), we revealed a nocturnal activity pattern for D. aurita, C. paca, S. brasiliensis, and L. pardalis, whereas the domestic dog presented a cathemeral pattern (Table 1; Fig. 2)
No differences were detected between the activity patterns of L. pardalis and its wild prey, with an overlap always greater than 65% (Table 1; Fig. 2)
Summary
Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) were the first mammals to be domesticated by humans (Morey 1994), and occur on every continent (with the exception of Antarctica), with an estimated global population of more than 500 million (Vanak and Gompper 2009). Dogs owned by humans or associated with human houses but that use outdoor areas are not restricted to house limits (hereafter referred to as rural free-ranging dogs; Vanak and Gompper 2009) They occur on the outskirts of natural forested areas, as well as enter into those natural environments, where they may threaten wildlife due to predation (Galetti and Sazima 2006; Silva-Rodríguez et al 2010; Doherty et al 2017) and disease transmission (see Young et al 2011; Doherty et al 2017). Studies have documented the impact of dogs on forest wildlife (Galetti and Sazima 2006; Lenth et al 2008; SrbekAraujo and Chiarello 2008; Lacerda et al 2009; Paschoal et al 2012; Carvalho et al 2013; Lessa et al 2016; Zapata-Ríos and Branch 2016) and have shown that dogs may have a negative effect on wild animals that move along trails and roads between forest fragments and in forest patches (Galetti and Sazima 2006; Lacerda et al 2009; Silva-Rodríguez and Sieving 2012)
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