Temporal partitioning and the potential for avoidance behaviour within South African carnivore communities

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Behavioral Ecology
• Wildlife Conservation

Background:

• Carnivora play crucial roles in ecosystem functioning, with species competing for resources and survival.
• Subordinate carnivores often adapt behaviors, such as temporal activity partitioning, to coexist with dominant species.
• Understanding these adaptations is key to effective wildlife management and conservation in diverse ecosystems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate interspecific temporal activity patterns and avoidance strategies among sympatric carnivore species in South Africa.
• To determine how seasonality influences the temporal partitioning of activity among carnivores.
• To assess the role of competition and predation risk in shaping carnivore activity patterns.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multi-seasonal camera trapping data from four protected areas in South Africa, covering 13 carnivore species.
• Calculated interspecific coefficients of overlap for diel (24-hour) and core activity periods across seasons.
• Employed time-to-event analyses to examine spatiotemporal behaviors and avoidance patterns.

Main Results:

• Complete avoidance of diel activity patterns was infrequent; most species exhibited high diel overlap, primarily nocturnal.
• Core activity overlap was significantly lower than diel overlap (p < .001), suggesting fine-scaled temporal partitioning.
• Diel activity overlap was reduced during the dry season compared to the wet season (p = .045), highlighting seasonal influence.

Conclusions:

• South African carnivore activity patterns are not solely dictated by top-down competitive suppression from dominant species.
• Fine-scaled avoidance of core activity periods is a more prevalent strategy for temporal partitioning than complete diel avoidance.
• Seasonality plays a significant role in carnivore temporal avoidance behaviors, emphasizing the need for nuanced conservation strategies.