Temporal and spatial segregation among mammal predators and their prey

Abstract

Time and space are niche dimensions that allow a local coexistence of predators and their prey. Daily activity patterns are a crucial component of mammalian ecology and behavior, being temporal avoidance often the most important mechanism of coexistence among species. Animal’s daily activity patterns (temporal specialization) can be classified in diurnal, nocturnal, crepuscular or cathemeral. Temporal overlap alone does not define the vulnerability of the prey or the preference of the predator, since there must also be spatial segregation, which can alleviate possible hostile interactions among the animals. In this study, we test if there are any significant differences among the daily activity patterns of predators and prey. We used the camera-trapping data to test if the predator’s species have less occurrence than expected by chance on the trails. The study area is the Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos (PARNASO). C-score is used to determine the spatial segregation and the exact test to determine the temporal segregation between predators and prey. Our results suggest spatial segregation among predators and prey in PARNASO. Also, the exact test showed that predators have cathemeral activity while prey are mainly nocturnal, as expected, probably to avoid predators. Despite its importance, the theory of how predation affects species differences and diversity is much less developed than the competition theory, which shows that more studies like this one need to be done