Fine-Scale Habitat Segregation between Two Ecologically Similar Top Predators

Similar, coexisting species often segregate along the spatial ecological axis. Here, we examine if two top predators (jaguars and pumas) present different fine-scale habitat use in areas of coexistence, and discuss if the observed pattern can be explained by the risk of interference competition between them. Interference competition theory predicts that pumas should avoid habitats or areas used by jaguars (the dominant species), and as a consequence should present more variability of niche parameters across study areas. We used non-invasive genetic sampling of faeces in 12 different areas and sensor satellite finescale habitat indices to answer these questions. Meta-analysis confirmed differences in fine-scale habitat use between jaguars and pumas. Furthermore, average marginality of the realized niches of pumas was more variable than those of jaguars, and tolerance (a measure of niche breadth) was on average 2.2 times higher in pumas than in jaguars, as expected under the interference competition risk hypothesis. The use of sensor satellite fine-scale habitat indices allowed the detection of subtle differences in the environmental characteristics of the habitats used by these two similar top predators, which, as a rule, until now were recorded using the same general habitat types. The detection of fine spatial segregation between these two top predators was scale-dependent.Peer reviewe

Presence of pastoral fields in mountain landscapes influences prey consumption by European wildcats

Traditional agro-pastoral practices are more beneficial for biodiversity than intensified agricultural systems. Promotion of the growth of natural herbaceous vegetation in pastoral fields can enhance rodent populations and consequently influence ecological aspects of carnivores with rodent-based diets, like prey consumption in the European wildcat (Felis silvestris). In this article, we investigated the effects of pastoral field extent, season and prey abundance on wildcat consumption of several prey species in the Cantabrian Mountains (NW Spain). Prey consumption in areas with presence of pastoral fields (even in low proportions) was dominated by profitable field-dwelling rodent species such as Arvicola monticola. Consumption of Arvicola was not correlated with its abundance and was higher during summer and autumn. Apodemus dominated the wildcat diet in areas with higher forest proportion and far from pastoral fields, particularly during spring. Our results suggest that varying habitat use and seasonal changes in prey accessibility may determine wildcat prey consumption in pastoral landscapes. Our results can contribute to highlight the potential benefits of traditional and sustainable pastoral activities for the conservation of the European wildcat across its distribution range.We thank the Regional Governments of Castilla y León and the Principality of Asturias for the permits to capture wildcats and collect wildcat scat samples (EP/P/128/2019 for CyL; AUTO/19/34, AUTO/2020/593 and AUTO/2019/3267 for Asturias). We thank the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities as well as TRAGSATEC S.A. for sharing the GPS spatial data of several intensive 24-h tracking periods of European wildcats. We thank M. Torres Diseños Industriales SAU and Land Rover Spain for their partial economic and logistic support.Peer reviewe

High Proportion of Male Faeces in Jaguar Populations

Faeces provide relevant biological information which includes, with the application of genetic techniques, the sex and identity of individuals that defecated, thus providing potentially useful data on the behaviour and ecology of individuals, as well as the dynamics and structure of populations. This paper presents estimates of the sex ratio of different felid species (jaguar, Panthera onca; puma, Puma concolor; and ocelot/margay, Leopardus pardalis/Leopardus wiedi) as observed in field collected faeces, and proposes several hypotheses that could explain the strikingly high proportion of faeces from male jaguars. The proportion of male and female faeces was estimated using a non-invasive faecal sampling method in 14 study areas in Mexico and Brazil. Faecal samples were genetically analysed to identify the species, the sex and the individual (the latter only for samples identified as belonging to jaguars). Considering the three species, 72.6% of faeces (n = 493) were from males; however, there were significant differences among them, with the proportion from males being higher for jaguars than for pumas and ocelots/margays. A male-bias was consistently observed in all study areas for jaguar faeces, but not for the other species. For jaguars the trend was the same when considering the number of individuals identified (n = 68), with an average of 4.2±0.56 faeces per male and 2.0±0.36 per female. The observed faecal marking patterns might be related to the behaviour of female jaguars directed toward protecting litters from males, and in both male and female pumas, to prevent interspecific aggressions from male jaguars. The hypothesis that there are effectively more males than females in jaguar populations cannot be discarded, which could be due to the fact that females are territorial and males are not, or a tendency for males to disperse into suboptimal areas for the species. © 2012 Palomares et al

A non-invasive faecal survey for the study of spatial ecology and kinship of solitary felids in the Viruá National Park, Amazon Basin

Jaguars and pumas are the largest felids in the Americas. Information about these two species is scarce, especially where both species are sympatric. We studied the use and selection of macrohabitats, spatial segregation and kinship in jaguars and pumas in the Viruá National Park (Amazonian lowlands) by non-invasive genetic analyses of faecal samples. Seven different jaguars (six males and one female) and nine different pumas (five males and four females) were identified. We found space use segregation between the two species, with pumas using mostly forested habitats and jaguars using open habitats slightly more than the forested ones. This result is unexpected, since previous studies have found that pumas favour more open habitats than jaguars. The results suggest that jaguars use the areas in a more random manner, corresponding to the habits of a dominant generalist species, whereas pumas use the area to reduce encounter rates with jaguars. Nevertheless, both species mainly used areas near upland forest-flooding habitats. Some kinship categories were supported with a p < 0.05 in 57 and 83% of the pair comparisons between the identified jaguars and the identified pumas, respectively. Non-invasive genetic analysis of faeces was useful to study the spatial ecology of solitary, rare and cryptic species in the Amazon. © 2017, Mammal Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences, Białowieża, Poland

What should I eat: feeding behaviour of puma in a Brazilian protected semi-arid area

The feeding behaviour of the puma (Puma concolor) is a fundamental characteristic that guarantees its evolutionary success. It is one of the primary factors associated with its widespread distribution, including hostile regions like the Brazilian Caatinga, a semi-arid biome. We investigate the feeding ecology of the puma in a protected area located in the Caatinga by describing its diet and evaluating patterns of prey selection mediated by energetic trade-off and meeting probability. We found ten prey species consumed by pumas, with the collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) representing almost half of consumed prey items. Prey selection by puma was correlated with an overlap of activity patterns between predator and prey, suggesting that meeting probability is an important topic in its foraging ecology. Due to the predominance of a single prey species, the puma showed a narrow niche breadth (standardised Levins’ index = 0.113), positing the collared peccary as a critical element in the persistence of puma in the area. The puma is commonly described as a generalist predator since it feeds on a broad range of species across its distribution area; however, our results and recent literature suggest a more specialised diet at a local scale. This apparent contradiction could indicate that the puma diet is subject to a hierarchical organisation on a spatial scale, in which different local specialisations and adaptive strategies would lead to a generalist feeding behaviour at the distributional scale. It is important to highlight that we did not find any evidence of livestock depredation, which is a significant result from a conservation perspective, which favours puma conservation in the study area.Peer reviewe

Identification of Neotropical felid faeces using RCP-PCR

Faeces similarity among sympatric felid species has generally hampered their use in distributional, demographic and dietary studies. Here, we present a new and simple approach based on a set of species-specific primers, for the unambiguous identification of faeces from sympatric neotropical felids (i.e. puma, jaguar, jaguarundi and ocelot/ margay). This method, referred to as rapid classificatory protocol-PCR (RCP-PCR), consists of a single-tube multiplex PCR yielding species-specific banding patterns on agarose gel. The method was optimized with samples of known origin (14 blood and 15 fresh faeces) and validated in faecal samples of unknown origin (n = 138), for some of which (n = 40) we also obtained species identification based on mtDNA sequencing. This approach proved reliable and provides high identification success rates from faeces. Its simplicity and cost effectiveness should facilitate its application for routine surveys of presence and abundance of these species. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Gene flow and genetic structure of the puma and jaguar in Mexico

Gene flow among populations and subpopulations homogenizes allele frequencies. This mechanism is strongly influenced by species dispersal ability, frequently correlating genetic variation with distance among individuals, which is also known as an isolation-by-distance pattern. Species with high dispersal abilities are expected to show a limited isolation-by-distance pattern compared to those with reduced dispersal. Here, we use non-invasive genetic sampling of faeces to evaluate how isolation-by-distance is differentially structured in jaguar and puma populations in Mexico. We have optimized and validated a reliable and standardized non-invasive genetic sampling protocol to monitor pumas based on 12 microsatellite markers, as well as applied a previously published and consistent protocol for jaguars. We found that jaguars and pumas were not uniform and panmictic populations. Spatial trends in allele frequencies for both species generated clinal patterns. However, pumas showed a stronger isolation-by-distance pattern than jaguars, which was expected since pumas seem to have a lower dispersal ability than jaguars. The genetic structures of both species differed at the level of subpopulations. These results reinforce the differences in intensity of isolation-by-distance between two generalist species with high dispersal ability.This study was supported by Fundación BBVA (project BIOCON 05–100/06) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (project CGL2010-16902) for the funds of this work

Scraping marking behaviour of the largest Neotropical felids

Background. Details of how, why and in what conditions large felids make scrapes is unknown. Here, we examined the general hypothesis about the use of scrapes for marking proposals, as well as to communicate with other individuals to signalize particular points or areas of interest, by studying scrape-marking behaviour of jaguars and pumas. Methods. We surveyed by scrapes between five days and two months mainly during dry season in five study areas from Mexico (El Edén and San Ignacio), Belize (Cockscomb) and Brazil (Angatuba and Serra das Almas), which differed in presence and/or abundance of jaguars and pumas. Paths were slowly walked while searching for scrapes by teams normally composed of two people and tracks were stored in GPS, distinguishing the type of path surveyed (unpaved track roads, trails and cross-country). Results. We found a total of 269 felid scrapes along 467 km of paths surveyed, obtaining a finding rate of 0.576 scrapes per km. Most scrapes were found in car tracks (0.629 scrapes per km), followed by trails (0.581 scrapes per km), and rarely did we find scrapes in cross country (0.094 scrapes per km). In trails, scrapes were found in a similar frequency in the centre and edge, whereas in car tracks they were mainly found in the edge. There were also clear differences in the position of the scrapes between study areas that differed in presence and/or abundance of pumas and jaguars, with scrapes located mainly in the centre in areas only with pumas, in the centre and in the edge in areas with a similar number of jaguars and pumas, and in the edge in area mainly dominated by jaguars. The remarking rate tended to be higher in one of the areas with only pumas where natural vegetation was scarcer. Felids chose sites mainly covered by leaves and located in paths less wide, clean and rarely used. Discussion. Scraping was a frequent behaviour in the largest felids of America, although in some areas, scraping behaviour was rare. Scrapes seem to be signalizing some specific areas within territories and data suggest that they are made with the proposal of communication between individuals. It seems that a high scraping behaviour in pumas is not related to the presence of jaguarsPeer reviewe