Abiotic variables influencing the nocturnal movements of bobcats and coyotes

Melville, Haemish; Conway, Warren C.; Hardin, Jason B.; Comer, Christopher E.; Morrison, Michael L.

doi:10.2981/wlb.00601

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Coyotes again showed opposite patterns to the two felids with exploratory behavior occurring primarily during the day. Behavior of coyotes shows a strong diurnal pattern in our study area, in contrast to prior literature in which coyotes were described as nocturnal (Way et al 2004, Cooper et al 2015, Melville et al 2020). Within a species, overlap among behaviors was low for ocelots suggesting behaviors were more distinctly partitioned across the diel period, while bobcats and coyotes showed high overlap across behaviors.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Behaviorally mediated coexistence of ocelots, bobcats and coyotes using hidden Markov models

Sergeyev

Holbrook

Lombardi

et al. 2022

Oikos

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The competitive exclusion principle states that ecologically similar species will be unable to coexist due to competition for resources, however, similar species coexist across a variety of ecosystems. Understanding mechanisms of coexistence is essential for managing a target species. Advances in monitoring technology have provided the ability to obtain reliable, high-frequency data on wildlife. From these data, behavioral states can be approximated by analyzing turning angles and distances between locations. We monitored 8 ocelots Leopardus pardalis, 13 bobcats Lynx rufus and 5 coyotes Canis latrans on the East Foundation's El Sauz Ranch and the Yturria San Francisco Ranch in south Texas, USA, which were fitted with GPS collars that collected locations every 30 min. We characterized behavioral states using hidden Markov models. We assumed low turning angles and longer steps to represent patrolling territory, larger turning angles with shorter steps would represent hunting behavior, and low angles and minimal movement would indicate periods of rest. If differences in timing and space use exist between species, these differences may help facilitate coexistence. We predicted 1) each species exhibits three behavioral states: resting, hunting and territory patrolling; 2) ocelots moved farther (i.e. territory patrolling) in open areas and rested in dense cover; and 3) bobcats and coyotes would remain in more open areas than ocelots. We found ocelots and bobcats remained closer to heavy cover when resting and foraging and used open areas more when patrolling territory while coyotes rested in the open and selected for cover when hunting or patrolling. Further, we found evidence of temporal partitioning of behaviors both within and across species. Our study provides a novel approach to examining coexistence and identifies behaviorally mediated spatial and temporal differences in habitat use that may facilitate coexistence between ocelots, bobcats and coyotes.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Behaviorally mediated coexistence of ocelots, bobcats and coyotes using hidden Markov models

Sergeyev

Holbrook

Lombardi

et al. 2022

Oikos

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“…Many of the potential nest predators (e.g., Virginia Opossums, snakes, and Raccoons) were likely less active during the higher temperatures in the afternoon (Melville et al 2014, Ryser 1995). However, the time of day may have less influence on hen predators (Melville et al 2020, Miller and Leopold 1992) because many are crepuscular (e.g., Bobcat) or nocturnal (e.g., Great Horned Owl). In support of our prediction, hen survival increased with greater number of daily recesses and greater recess duration, possibly because hens were less vulnerable to predation during a recess than when incubating.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Hen Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Incubation Recess Behavior on Survival and Nest Survival in Florida

Carpenter,

Sieving,

Terhune

et al. 2023

Southeastern Naturalist

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For bird species that exhibit comprehensive parental care (e.g., incubation, brooding, and extended parental care post-fledging), protection of self, as well as juvenile offspring, requires parent birds to have separate but overlapping anti-predator strategies during reproductive phases of the annual cycle. Behavior of nesting hen Meleagris gallopavo (Wild Turkey) may vary due to landscape features (e.g., roads, water source, or pastureland), potentially influencing predator encounter rates at the nest and consequently affecting nest survival. We assessed factors affecting nest survival and hen survival during incubation, including temporal patterns of M. g. osceola (Osceola Wild Turkey) and M.g. silvestris (Eastern Wild Turkey) recess behaviors. We used data on recess bouts from 37 hens fitted with global positioning system (GPS) transmitters and 54 confirmed nest attempts in north and north-central Florida to determine the effect of nest attendance on nest survival. On average, hens took 0.89 incubation recess bouts between 0800 and 1800, usually in the afternoon. Hen survival increased with an increase in daily recess bouts, longer daily recess bouts, and later nest incubation-initiation dates, and the probability of nest survival increased when hens took longer afternoon recess bouts. Nest survival was greater in the north-central region. These results indicate increases in recess duration contribute to greater hen and nest survival, which may be due to reduced nest-predator activity in the afternoon at the study sites. We recommend additional research into the relationship between predator activity and nesting Wild Turkeys on managed lands similar to those in our study.

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“…We hypothesized that precipitation and temperature would negatively relate to all species detection; we hypothesized that previous detection would positively relate to coyotes and raccoons, and negatively related to bobcats and fishers. These covariates have been previously shown to affect mesopredator species detection (Duscher et al, 2017 ; Gompper et al, 2016 ; Lesmeister et al, 2015 ; Pease et al, 2016 ; Madsen et al, 2020 ; Melville et al, 2020 ; Shivik et al, 1997 ). We used the best (lowest AIC) species‐specific p models to determine which habitat variables and habitat type (land use) influenced species occupancy (interpreted as use of an area) (Burnham and Anderson 2002).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Human land‐use effects on mammalian mesopredator occupancy of a northeastern Connecticut landscape

Zamuda

Duguid

Schmitz

2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Mammalian mesopredators—mid‐sized carnivores—are ecologically, economically, and socially important. With their adaptability to a variety of habitats and diets, loss of apex predators, and forest regrowth, many of these species are increasing in number throughout the northeastern United States. However, currently the region is seeing extensive landscape alterations, with an increase in residential and industrial development, especially at the expense of existing forest and small‐scale farmland. We sought to understand how important an existing mosaic of working lands (timberland and farmland) in a forested landscape is to mesopredator species. We did this by studying mesopredator occupancy across three land uses (or habitat types): forest reserve (protected), timber harvest (shelterwood cuts), and field (both crop yielding and fallow) in and around a 3200‐ha forest in northeastern Connecticut. We examined coyote ( Canis latrans ), bobcat ( Lynx rufus ), fisher ( Pekania pennanti ), and raccoon ( Procyon lotor ) occupancy using paired camera traps across juxtaposed reserve, shelterwood, and field units from April 2018 to March 2019. We created a priori habitat variable models for each species and season, as well as analyzed the impact of habitat types on each species. Throughout the year bobcats were positively associated with foliage height diversity and had the highest use in shelterwoods and lowest use in fields. Land use utilization varied seasonally for coyotes and raccoons, with higher use of fields than reserves and shelterwoods for half the year and no difference between land uses and the other half. Both species were not strongly associated with any particular habitat variables. Reserve forest was moderate to highly used by all species for at least half the year, and highly use year‐round by fishers. Our findings reveal that a mosaic of intact forest and working lands, timber harvest, and agriculture can support mesopredator diversity.

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Abiotic variables influencing the nocturnal movements of bobcats and coyotes

Abstract: BioOne Complete (complete.BioOne.org) is a full-text database of 200 subscribed and open-access titles in the biological, ecological, and environmental sciences published by nonprofit societies, associations, museums, institutions, and presses.

Cited by 12 publications

References 81 publications

Behaviorally mediated coexistence of ocelots, bobcats and coyotes using hidden Markov models

Behaviorally mediated coexistence of ocelots, bobcats and coyotes using hidden Markov models

Effects of Hen Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) Incubation Recess Behavior on Survival and Nest Survival in Florida

Human land‐use effects on mammalian mesopredator occupancy of a northeastern Connecticut landscape

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