Elevational gradients strongly mediate habitat selection patterns in a nocturnal predator

Abstract

Mountain ecosystems contain strong elevational gradients in climate and vegetation that

Landscape heterogeneity provides co‐benefits to predator and prey

“…While our landscape classification did not include old‐growth forest as a standalone category, our results suggest that the homogenization of these forests has reduced the abundance of woodrats and their consumption by spotted owls—and come at a cost to overall prey acquisition and potentially reproductive success. This conclusion is supported by a constellation of previous studies indicating that spotted owls (1) forage and capture woodrats at the edge of young and mature forests (Kramer, Jones, Kane, et al, 2021; Sakai & Noon, 1997; Zulla et al, 2022); (2) consume a greater proportion of woodrats in more heterogeneous landscapes based on stable isotope analyses (Hobart, Jones, et al, 2019); (3) have smaller home ranges, higher territory occupancy rates, and higher densities in areas where they consume more woodrats (Hobart, Jones, et al, 2019; Zabel et al, 1995); and (4) can have higher reproductive rates in heterogeneous landscapes (Franklin et al, 2000), including those that contain a relatively high proportion of young forest with hardwoods (Hobart, Roberts, et al, 2019).…”

“…While our landscape classification did not include old-growth forest as a standalone category, our results suggest that the homogenization of these forests has reduced the abundance of woodrats and their consumption by spotted owls-and come at a cost to overall prey acquisition and potentially reproductive success. This conclusion is supported by a constellation of previous studies indicating that spotted owls (1) forage and capture woodrats at the edge of young and mature forests (Kramer, Jones, Kane, et al, 2021;Sakai & Noon, 1997;Zulla et al, 2022); (2) consume a greater proportion of woodrats in more heterogeneous landscapes based on stable isotope analyses (Hobart, Jones, et al, 2019);…”

Home is where the home range is: Identifying territoriality and exhibit preferences in an ex-situ group of all-male Nile crocodiles (Crocodylus niloticus)

“…Animals defend territories through indirect behaviors, such as visual, acoustic, and olfactory cues [2,3] and through direct encounters with conspecifics, such as agonistic interactions [4]. Access to resources drives territoriality, and the resources an animal chooses to defend within a territory vary by species [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. For example, certain species may defend territories at specific times of the year surrounding seasonal resources, including during breeding seasons when access to mates, breeding sites, and nesting sites are competed for [13] or during times of food scarcity [14].…”

Shift in habitat selection during natal dispersal in a long‐lived raptor species

“…Some of the most important environmental gradients that strongly influence species distribution include the amount of available habitat, elevation and human population density (Isbell et al 2022). For example, habitat selection changed along longitudinal and latitudinal gradients of boreal forests in caribous during winter (Fortin et al 2008), along elevation gradients in owls (Kramer et al 2021) or urbanization gradients in lions and bears (Benson et al 2016, Thorsen et al 2022). Assessing habitat selection along environmental gradients could therefore help evaluate how changes in habitat availability and quality may influence current and future population distributions (Hargreaves and Eckert 2014, Matthiopoulos et al 2015, Anderson et al 2022).…”