Resource partitioning among cape foxes, bat‐eared foxes, and black‐backed jackals in South Africa

Abstract

Cape foxes (Vulpes chama) and bat‐eared foxes (Otocyon megalotis) are sympatric with black‐backed jackals (Canis mesomelas) over much of southern Africa, although competition with and/or predation by jackals may suppress local populations of both fox species. From 2005 to 2008, we captured, radio‐collared, and monitored 11 cape foxes, 22 bat‐eared foxes, and 15 black‐backed jackals on a game ranch in South Africa to investigate their spatial, habitat, temporal, and dietary resource overlap. Mean annual home‐range sizes were 27.7 km2 for cape foxes, 5.0 km2 for bat‐eared foxes, and 17.8 km2 for jackal family groups. Home ranges overlapped completely between species, although core areas overlapped less (<45%), with cape foxes and jackals overlapping the least (12%). When active, cape foxes, but not bat‐eared foxes, used core areas of jackal groups less than expected. Additionally, both fox species used jackal core areas less than expected for their den sites, suggesting areas outside jackal core areas were used as refuges by foxes. Strong levels of habitat partitioning were not apparent at the study site or home‐range levels, although habitat selection for den sites differed between jackals and cape foxes. Jackals were the most diurnal across seasons, whereas cape foxes were the most nocturnal. Diets overlapped little (R0 = 0.20–0.34) among the canid species, with bat‐eared foxes overlapping the least with the others. Jackals killed at least 5 collared bat‐eared foxes and 1 collared cape fox, indicating potential interference competition, probably for exclusive use of territorial space rather than over shared resources. We conclude that bat‐eared foxes coexisted with jackals primarily by their dietary specialization and group living. Cape foxes coexisted with jackals by exhibiting high levels of spatial, habitat, temporal, and dietary partitioning. Surprisingly, the fox species exhibited positive associations with each other. Our results show the mechanisms that may allow jackals to suppress fox populations, yet also show how foxes, in turn, use different mechanisms to coexist with a dominant canid. © 2012 The Wildlife Society.

Food niche segregation between sympatric golden jackals and red foxes in central Bulgaria

“…We propose that the availability of carrion may thus facilitate niche separation and reduce inter‐species competition, as seen in other similar studies on canids (e.g. Vanak & Gompper, ; Kamler et al ., ). Nevertheless, we also infer that jackals may constrain the extent to which foxes feed on carrion (e.g.…”

Daily energy expenditure in the face of predation: hedgehog energetics in rural landscapes

“…Likewise, reinstating hedgerow cover and habitat complexity on arable land may mitigate the effect of badgers, and also potentially provide warmer locations for hedgehogs (arable hedgerows were a mean of 0.7°C warmer than the fields). While badger numbers have increased on arable land in the past 30 years (Judge et al, 2014), there is evidence that species in an intraguild relationship can coexist (Holt and Polis, 1997;Kamler et al, 2012;Polis and Holt, 1992). Further investigation is warranted to assess the feasibility of these conservation proposals, particularly in respect to the level of hedgerow cover required to mitigate the negative effects of badgers on arable land.…”

Importance of Native Grassland Habitat for Den-Site Selection of Indian Foxes in a Fragmented Landscape

“…Both swift foxes in prairie grasslands of northern Texas, and San Joaquin kit foxes ( V. m. mutica ) in central California, USA, avoided habitats with low visibility and high vulnerability to coyote predation [35,44]. In South Africa, cape foxes ( V. chama ), and bat-eared foxes ( Otocyon megalotis ) also avoided bushveld habitat when denning, likely due to poor visibility of black-backed jackals ( C. mesomelas ), predators of young foxes [45]. Visibility and vulnerability to predation also likely determine why Indian foxes choose short grasslands over forestry plantations or agricultural areas for denning.…”