Are pumas subordinate carnivores, and does it matter?

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Wildlife Conservation
• Predator-Prey Dynamics

Background:

• Interspecific competition significantly influences species fitness, community structure, and geographic distribution.
• Dominance hierarchies mitigate conflict and define realized niches, particularly critical for apex predators facing both interspecific competition and human impacts.
• Pumas (cougars) are apex predators subject to hunting regulations and overlap with multiple other apex predators.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the dominance status of pumas relative to sympatric apex predators and mesocarnivores across their range.
• To analyze the spatial distribution of pumas in relation to dominant competitors.
• To inform wildlife management strategies regarding puma harvest limits in areas of high interspecific competition.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive literature search using 64 sources to evaluate puma dominance with apex predators and 13 sources for mesocarnivores.
• Analyzed spatial distribution data to determine areas where pumas are dominant versus subordinate.
• Synthesized evidence on interspecific interactions and competitive hierarchies.

Main Results:

• Pumas are subordinate to wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, and jaguars, but dominant over coyotes and maned wolves.
• Pumas exhibit dominance over sympatric felid mesocarnivores (ocelot, bobcat, Canada lynx).
• Pumas are subordinate to at least one dominant apex carnivore across 47.5% of their extensive North and South American range.

Conclusions:

• Subordinate pumas experience negative effects including habitat displacement, reduced food access, increased energy expenditure, starvation, and direct mortality from competitors.
• There is a critical need for research linking competitive costs directly to puma fitness and assessing synergistic effects of competition and human management.
• Caution is advised for wildlife managers setting puma harvest limits, especially in areas with recovering or recolonizing dominant predators like wolves and grizzly bears, to account for realized competition scenarios.