Habitat overlap among bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in an agricultural landscape

Nielsen, Clayton K.; Bottom, Christopher Richard; Tebo, Ryan Gregory

doi:10.1139/cjz-2017-0079

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 60 publications

(63 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Although contacts were rare, avoidance of areas of high predicted use by coyotes suggests male turkeys may avoid areas associated with increased coyote activity. However, we note that this avoidance could also be due to substantive differences in preference of landscape characteristics as suggested by Nielsen et al (2018). For example, coyotes use areas closer to shrubs and openings, whereas male turkeys showed strong selection for hardwoods and mostly selected areas away from open areas or showed no selection/avoidance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Effects of human and nonhuman predation risk on antipredator movement behaviors of an upland game bird

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predators elicit antipredator behaviors such as proactive and reactive movements in prey, but both are rarely investigated simultaneously. Impacts of human predation risk on antipredator behaviors can be greater than those of nonhuman predators, resulting in increased effects on populations and community structure. We compared the influence of human and nonhuman predation risk on proactive and reactive antipredator movement behaviors of male Eastern wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo, hereafter turkey). We used simultaneously collected GPS locations from 31 turkeys and 36 coyotes (Canis latrans) to investigate the antipredator behavior of turkeys to coyotes. To assess antipredator behaviors of turkeys to hunters, we used 1661 hunting tracks collected while monitoring 109 turkeys. For proactive movements, we quantified how predation risk influenced resource selection. To investigate reactive movements, we quantified changes in movement behavior of turkeys after encountering hunters and coyotes. Coyote and turkey home range overlap was high, but lack of core area overlap, encounters, and similar resource selection suggested the use of different areas on the landscape. Turkeys selected areas associated with decreased coyote risk and closer to hardwoods. Coyotes preferred shrubs and open areas, suggesting turkeys avoided coyote risk and the habitats coyotes preferred. We detected 17 coyote and turkey contacts, and the probability of contact decreased by 16.6% for every 100 m farther from a forest edge. Turkeys did not display reactive movement behaviors after a direct encounter with coyotes, as step lengths were similar prior to and after encounters, which did not differ from random step lengths. After hunting, turkeys selected areas farther from public access points and closer to private property, suggesting proactive avoidance of hunter risk. We detected 31 hunter and turkey contacts; increased step lengths after hunter contacts suggested fleeing behavior. The probability of a hunter–turkey contact decreased by 5.5% for every 100 m farther from a secondary road. Antipredator movement behaviors by turkeys suggest coyote risk to be low over a broad temporal window, while hunter risk is high for a narrow temporal window. We provide insight into how human‐induced fear can cause antipredator behavioral responses greater than nonhuman fear, potentially causing changes in species distribution and community structure.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 63%

Effects of human and nonhuman predation risk on antipredator movement behaviors of an upland game bird

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In reality, a guild of multiple potential predators and a guild of multiple potential prey may exist and interact. For instance, coyotes prey on multiple small mammal species, which are also the prey of other coexisting mesocarnivores, which prey on wild turkeys (Nielsen et al, 2018). It is theoretically possible that the increased consumption of small mammals by coyotes would make the bobcat ( Lynx rufus ), another mesocarnivore, to kill more wild turkeys.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inverse relationships between coyote and wild turkey population time series: Implications for future studies of predator–prey interactions

Wang,

Butler,

Shan

2023

Wildlife Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Changes in predator communities such as the emergence of new predators alter predator–prey interactions profoundly. Coyotes (Canis latrans) have expanded their geographic distributions from the western United States (US) to the Eastern US, potentially suppressing some prey populations as their relative abundance has increased. To assess the relationship between coyotes and one of their prey, the eastern wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris), we employed time series analysis and multivariate autoregressive state‐space models (MARSSMs) to a 23‐year capture per unit effort data set from both species in the state of Mississippi, US. The best MARSSM model indicated density dependence in each species. The competing MARSSM indicated that increases in coyote relative abundance reduced the population growth rate of wild turkeys. We recommend that future studies use long‐term time series of multiple coexisting predators and their alternative prey to assess the effects of the predator guild on the dynamics of prey populations.

show abstract

“…Bobcats tend to use larger home ranges in more fragmented and developed landscapes (Riley et al 2003, Tucker et al 2008) and lynx (Lynx lynx ) have been found to expand their home ranges in order to increase hunting efforts in areas with declining prey abundance (Schmidt 2008). Therefore, the fragmentated, patchy landscape and increased human modification in the central Illinois site could be leading to low-quality forage for bobcats, causing them to expand their home ranges to maintain access to necessary resources (Reding et al 2013, Nielsen et al 2017. Coyotes had larger home ranges than bobcats, but a large amount of variation was present within the coyote population (Gese et al 1988, Grinder andKrausman 2001).…”

Section: Predator Spatial Behavior and Response To Human Modificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using a novel framework of animal space-use behaviors reveals a gradient of responses to human modification

Gorman

Eichholz²,

Skinner

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial behavior, including home-ranging behaviors, habitat selection, and movement, can be extremely informative in estimating how animals respond to landscape heterogeneity. Responses in these spatial behaviors to factors such as human modification and resources on the landscape can highlight a species’ spatial strategy to maximize fitness and minimize risk. These strategies can vary on spatial, temporal, and individual scales, and the combination of behaviors on these scales can lead to very different strategies among species. Harnessing the variation present at these scales, we developed a framework for predicting how species may respond to changes in their environments on a gradient ranging from generic, where a species exhibits broad-stroke spatial responses to their environment, to nuanced, in which a species uses a combination of temporal and spatial strategies paired with functional responses in selection behaviors. Using 46 GPS-tracked bobcats and coyotes inhabiting a landscape encompassing a range of human modification, we evaluated where each species falls along the generic-to-nuanced gradient. Bobcats and coyotes studied occupied opposite ends of this gradient, using different strategies in response to human modification in their home ranges, with bobcats broadly expanding their home range with increases in human modification and clearly selecting for or avoiding features on the landscape with temporal consistency. Meanwhile, coyotes did not expand their home ranges with human modification, but instead displayed temporal and spatial adjustments in their functional responses to human modification. These differences in response to habitat, resources, and risk between the two species highlighted the variation in spatial behaviors animals can use to exist in anthropogenic environments influenced by interspecific variation in behavioral plasticity. Categorizing animal spatial behavior based on the generic-to-nuanced gradient can help in predicting how a species will respond to future change based on their current spatial behavior.

show abstract

Habitat overlap among bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and Wild Turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo) in an agricultural landscape

Cited by 8 publications

References 60 publications

Effects of human and nonhuman predation risk on antipredator movement behaviors of an upland game bird

Effects of human and nonhuman predation risk on antipredator movement behaviors of an upland game bird

Inverse relationships between coyote and wild turkey population time series: Implications for future studies of predator–prey interactions

Using a novel framework of animal space-use behaviors reveals a gradient of responses to human modification

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About