Density and activity pattern of Leopardus wiedii and Leopardus pardalis in Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, Mexico

Abstract

The margay, Leopardus wiedii, and the ocelot, L. pardalis, are sympatric species through their distribution areas. Some studies indicate that L. pardalis exerts a strong influence on other smaller felids. Our goal in this study was to estimate the density and activity patterns of these felid species in two vegetation types at Sierra Norte of Oaxaca, southwestern Mexico. We expected that L. pardalis had a high density relative to other felids due to its ecological plasticity, as well as segregation in the activity pattern between species. We placed camera traps in 22 sites in the semi-evergreen forest and 22 sites in the cloud forest, from July 2014 to June 2015. We estimated density using the Cormack-Jolly-Seber probabilistic model with the program MARK and assessed the degree of activity overlapping between species by the coefficient of overlapping Δ 1 in the program R. We recorded low abundance of L. pardalis (8.3 individuals) and a higher abundance of L. wiedii (51.5 individuals). The density of both species was 7.8 individuals /100 km 2 and 81 individuals/100 km 2 , respectively. Both species displayed predominantly nocturnal activity. The overlap coefficient between species in the semi-evergreen forest was high (Δ 1 = 0.75, CI = 0.63-0.90). Factors such as differences in vegetation type and the presence of a large number of transient individuals may influence the density of Leopardus. The lower density of L. pardalis and the high conservation status of the cloud forest may contribute to the higher density of L. wiedii in Sierra Norte of Oaxaca. Our results suggested that both species showed a highly overlapping activity pattern, and the activity pattern of the margay is seemingly unaffected by the presence of the ocelot. We provided information about density and activity of medium-sized felids, as well as on the factors that may potentially affect these patterns in mountain tropical forests.El margay Leopardus wiedii y el ocelote L. pardalis son simpátricos a través de sus distribuciones. Algunos estudios indican que L. pardalis ejerce una influencia fuerte en otros felinos más pequeños. Nuestro objetivo fue estimar la densidad y el patrón de actividad de estos felinos en dos tipos de vegetación en la Sierra Norte de Oaxaca, en el Sureste de México. Esperábamos que L. pardalis presentara una densidad alta en comparación con otros félidos, debido a su plasticidad ecológica y también, esperábamos una segregación en el patrón de actividad entre especies. Ubicamos 22 sitios con trampas cámara en la selva mediana y 22 sitios en el bosque mesófilo de julio 2014 a junio 2015. Estimamos la densidad usando el modelo probabilístico de Cormack-Jolly-Seber con el programa MARK y evaluamos el grado de sobreposición de la actividad entre especies por medio del coeficiente de sobreposición Δ 1 en el programa R. Registramos una abundancia poblacional baja de L. pardalis (8.3 individuos) y una mayor de L. wiedii (51.5 individuos). La densidad poblacional de ambas especies fue 7.8 individuos/100 km 2 y 81 individuos/100 km 2...

Margay (Leopardus wiedii) in the southernmost Atlantic Forest: Density and activity patterns under different levels of anthropogenic disturbance

“…To our knowledge there is no published information on density patterns of the margay in the Atlantic Forest. Our estimates are, however, lower than those reported for southwest and southeastern Mexico, which varied from 12 individuals/100 km 2 [30] to 81 individuals/100 km 2 [31], respectively. Overall, margay population densities seem to respond positively to vegetation cover.…”

“…Margay was nocturnal across our studied areas, consistent with what has been found in other studies [17,30,31,39,95]. In fact, our results did not support our prediction of changes in the activity pattern of the margay in response to human disturbance: margay was strictly nocturnal across a range of human-altered landscapes.…”

“…Few studies estimated the density of margay [30,36,78] and compared temporal activities of any Neotropical small cats with human related species or human related impacts [17,79]. Our study represents the first large-scale evaluation of density and activity patterns of the margay for the southernmost limit of the Atlantic Forest and may be used as model for other studies seeking the management and conservation of small felids.…”

“…However, density estimates for the margay across its distribution are few, particularly when compared to other felids. Studies carried out in forested areas of Mexico, estimated density ranging between 12 and 81 individuals/100km 2 [30,31]. According the IUCN [9], there are estimates from Brazil ranging from one to five individuals/km 2 and up to 15 to 25 individuals/ 100 km 2 ; however, the specific locations of the original studies are not available [22,32,33].…”

“…Spatial capture-recapture (SCR) models should be able to overcome this limitation by incorporating spatial information from the individual detections [1,34,35]. In contrast to density estimates, a much greater number of studies has described activity patterns of margay across its range, suggesting that, overall, the species is nocturnal [6,8,17,30,31,[36][37][38][39], though in some areas it may show a cathemeral pattern [40].…”