Carricondo‐Sanchez, David and Odden, Morten and Kulkarni, Abhijeet and Vanak, Abi Tamim (2019) Scale‐dependent strategies for coexistence of mesocarnivores in human‐dominated landscapes. Biotropica, 51. pp. 781-791.
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Abstract
Identifying factors influencing the distribution of and interactions within carnivore communities is important for understanding how they are affected by human activities. Species differ in their ability to adapt to humans depending on their degree of specialization in habitat use and feeding habits. This results in asymmetric changes in the ecology of co‐occurring species that can influence their interactions. We investigated whether human infrastructures and freeranging domestic dogs (a species typically associated with humans) influenced the co‐occurrence and habitat use of mesocarnivores in a landscape of high human population density in Maharashtra, India. We used 40 camera trap locations during 233 trapping nights and used Bayesian co‐occurrence occupancy models to investigate the habitat use and coexistence of species at different spatial scales. Additionally, we investigated their temporal overlap in space use. Indian foxes altered their habitat use both spatially and temporally in order to avoid free‐ranging domestic dogs and other larger competitors. The use of human infrastructure by jackals and jungle cats was limited by the presence of dogs. Our results illustrate how habitat use of smaller carnivore species changes both spatially and temporally in order to avoid larger competitors. We also show that the presence of species associated with humans mediates the influence of human infrastructures on the habitat use of mesocarnivores. We highlight the importance of acknowledging the potential impact of urbanization not only on single species, but also on the interactions within the community.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | Copyright of this article belongs to the authors. Biotropica published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation. |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | anthropogenic disturbance, dog, habitat use, India, Indian fox, jackal, jungle cat, occupancy |
| Subjects: | A ATREE Publications > G Journal Papers |
| Divisions: | SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation |
| Depositing User: | Ms Suchithra R |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Nov 2025 08:23 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Dec 2025 10:34 |
| URI: | http://archives.atree.org/id/eprint/1127 |

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