Nocturnal movements and habitat selection of mesopredators encountering bobwhite nests

Cooper, Susan M.; Jhala, Shesh; Rollins, Dale; Feagin, Rusty A.

doi:10.1002/wsb.499

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

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

Sergeyev

Holbrook

Lombardi

et al. 2022

Oikos

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They attributed these high encounter rates to similarity in habitat selection. Similarly to Cooper et al (2014), we found that bobwhites and coyotes were both selected for areas of greater forb cover, albeit at differing scales. Coyote selection of forbs may be due to increased small mammal abundances as a prey source (Seamster et al, 2014), which could lead to incidental encounters with bobwhite nests.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Approximately 83% of bobwhite nesting habitat overlapped with areas with high selection by either coyotes or striped skunks. Cooper et al (2014) found that coyotes encountered bobwhite nests more frequently than did raccoons or bobcats. They attributed these high encounter rates to similarity in habitat selection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mesopredator predation risk limits northern bobwhite nesting habitat

Harris

O’Connell

2023

Ecosphere

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Predators can significantly limit the amount of available habitat for vulnerable prey. Encouraging spatial segregation of predators and prey through habitat management prescriptions may be a useful tool to increase productivity and abundances of prey species of conservation concern. We estimated the total area of low‐risk nesting habitat by interacting predator habitat selection models with northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) nest‐site selection models. We used trail cameras, transect sampling, spotlighting transects, and incidental tracking to survey and map occurrences of mesopredators at a site in western Oklahoma, USA. We created broad‐scale resource selection function models for bobwhite nest‐site and mesopredator habitat selection using generalized linear models to create maps of occurrence probability in ArcGIS. Bobwhite nests were more likely to be depredated in areas of high selection by coyotes (Canis latrans) and striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) compared to areas with low mesopredator selection. Approximately 392 ha of bobwhite nesting habitat (17%) had low probabilities of selection by both coyotes and striped skunks. Our results demonstrate the need for incorporating species' interactions into estimations of available habitat. Based on the total area of highly selected cover by northern bobwhite, approximately 29% of the study area would have been deemed suitable for nesting. However, only 5% of that area is predicted to have a low predation risk.

show abstract

“…Although both predator species are considered omnivorous with diverse diets, differences in association with wetland habitats near duck nests aligns with observations of raccoons avoiding upland grassland and crop fields and preferentially foraging along edge habitats such as forest, riparian, and wetland edges (Barding & Nelson, 2008; Cooper et al, 2015; Fritzell, 1978). Raccoons often show a preference for foraging on aquatic prey, especially crustaceans, when available (Rulison et al, 2012; Schoonover & Marshall, 1951; Urban, 1970).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Predator movements in relation to habitat features reveal vulnerability of duck nests to predation

Peterson

Ackerman

Keating

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Nest predation is the main cause of nest failure for ducks. Understanding how habitat features influence predator movements may facilitate management of upland and wetland breeding habitats that reduces predator encounter rates with duck nests and increases nest survival rates. For 1618 duck nests, nest survival increased with distance to phragmites (Phragmites australis), shrubs, telephone poles, human structures, and canals, but not for four other habitat features. Using GPS collars, we tracked 25 raccoons (Procyon lotor) and 16 striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis) over 4 years during waterfowl breeding and found marked differences in how these predators were located relative to specific habitat features; moreover, the probability of duck nests being encountered by predators differed by species. Specifically, proximity to canals, wetlands, trees, levees/roads, human structures, shrubs, and telephone poles increased the likelihood of a nest being encountered by collared raccoons. For collared skunks, nests were more likely to be encountered if they were closer to canals, trees, and shrubs, and farther from wetlands and human structures. Most predator encounters with duck nests were attributable to a few individuals; 29.2% of raccoons and 38.5% of skunks were responsible for 95.6% of total nest encounters. During the central span of duck nesting (April 17–June 14: 58 nights), these seven raccoons and five skunks encountered >1 nest on 50.8 ± 29.2% (mean ± SD) and 41.5 ± 28.3% of nights, respectively, and of those nights individual raccoons and skunks averaged 2.60 ± 1.28 and 2.50 ± 1.09 nest encounters/night, respectively. For collared predators that encountered >1 nest, a higher proportion of nests encountered by skunks had evidence of predation (51.9 ± 26.6%) compared to nests encountered by raccoons (22.3 ± 17.1%). Because duck eggs were most likely consumed as raccoons and skunks opportunistically discovered nests, managing the habitat features those predators most strongly associated with could potentially reduce rates of egg predation.

show abstract

Nocturnal movements and habitat selection of mesopredators encountering bobwhite nests

Cited by 6 publications

References 47 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

Mesopredator predation risk limits northern bobwhite nesting habitat

Predator movements in relation to habitat features reveal vulnerability of duck nests to predation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About