Temporal niche overlap among mesocarnivores in a Caatinga dry forest

Abstract

Agonistic encounters among carnivores can be potentially avoided or minimized by shifts in daily activity patterns. Here, we investigated the temporal ecology of mesocarnivores which co-occur in a semiarid area where top predators are virtually absent. More specifically, we (i) describe the daily activity patterns of six mesocarnivore species, (ii) evaluate possible seasonal changes in their daily activity patterns, (iii) examine patterns of temporal overlap among mesocarnivores, and (iv) test the overlap in daily activity between mesocarnivores and their potential prey. Using camera-trapping data (13,976 camera-days) and circular and overlapping analyses, we studied six out of the seven mesocarnivore species recorded. Striped hog-nosed skunk and the crab-eating raccoon were nocturnal, crab-eating fox and northern tiger cat were nocturnal-crepuscular, ocelot was mainly nocturnal, and jaguarundi was diurnal. With the exception of jaguarundi, we fail to find strong temporal segregation among mesocarnivore and interspecific interactions did not vary seasonally, but we observed separation in their activity peaks and significant difference in their activity distributions. This partial temporal segregation can potentially contribute to interspecific coexistence, reducing the chances of interspecific killing, mainly in relation to the dominant species (ocelot). Mesocarnivores did not exhibit a significant synchrony of their activity with any of the preys evaluated, with the exception of jaguarundi, which significantly overlapped its distribution of activity with some preys. Temporal segregation contributes, but does not seem to be the only mechanism behind the coexistence of mesocarnivores in Caatinga dry forest; thus, other strategies such as spatial and dietary segregation should be considered.