Temporal partitioning and spatiotemporal avoidance among large carnivores in a human-impacted African landscape.

Charlotte E Searle,Ana Grau,Andrew J Loveridge,Jeremy J Cusack,Lameck Mkuburo,Josephine B Smit,David W Macdonald,Amy J Dickman,Paolo Strampelli,Paulo Corti

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0256876

Charlotte E Searle, Ana Grau + Show 8 more

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256876

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Abstract

Africa is home to some of the world's most functionally diverse guilds of large carnivores. However, they are increasingly under threat from anthropogenic pressures that may exacerbate already intense intra-guild competition. Understanding the coexistence mechanisms employed by these species in human-impacted landscapes could help shed light on some of the more subtle ways in which humans may impact wildlife populations, and inform multi-species conservation planning. We used camera trap data from Tanzania's Ruaha-Rungwa landscape to explore temporal and spatiotemporal associations between members of an intact East African large carnivore guild, and determine how these varied across gradients of anthropogenic impact and protection. All large carnivores except African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) exhibited predominantly nocturnal road-travel behaviour. Leopard (Panthera pardus) appeared to employ minor temporal avoidance of lion (Panthera leo) in all sites except those where human impacts were highest, suggesting that leopard may have been freed up from avoidance of lion in areas where the dominant competitor was less abundant, or that the need for leopard to avoid humans outweighed the need to avoid sympatric competitors. Lion appeared to modify their activity patterns to avoid humans in the most impacted areas. We also found evidence of avoidance and attraction among large carnivores: lion and spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) followed leopard; leopard avoided lion; spotted hyaena followed lion; and lion avoided spotted hyaena. Our findings suggest that large carnivores in Ruaha-Rungwa employ fine-scale partitioning mechanisms to facilitate coexistence with both sympatric species and humans, and that growing human pressures may interfere with these behaviours.

Highlights

Competitive interactions have important fitness consequences for individuals and populations [1], and can trigger cascading impacts across wider ecological systems [2]
By incorporating data from two habitat types within a National Park, a trophy hunting area (Game Reserve), a community-managed area (Wildlife Management Area), and village land, we explore how intra-guild associations between large carnivores vary across a mixed-use, human-impacted area typical of modern African conservation landscapes
Data from 151 systematically-deployed paired camera stations and 56 non-systematic unpaired camera stations yielded a total of 2,969 unique captures of spotted hyaena, 860 of lion, 563 of leopard, 222 of African wild dog, 102 of striped hyaena, and 22 of cheetah

Summary

Introduction

Competitive interactions have important fitness consequences for individuals and populations [1], and can trigger cascading impacts across wider ecological systems [2]. Interspecific competition can have a strong influence on the distribution, density, and habitat use of large carnivore populations, and has important implications for their conservation and management [5]. Many large carnivores make use of partitioning mechanisms to minimise the negative consequences of this competition [1]. While some species may be able to avoid competitors entirely through spatial segregation, this strategy can bear a high fitness cost by limiting access to vital resources [8]. Finer-scale avoidance–such as fine-scale spatial avoidance [9], temporal avoidance [10], or dietary partitioning [11]–can be a valuable strategy for subordinate competitors to facilitate coexistence

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