Ecosphere最新文献

{"title":"From land to deep sea: A continuum of cumulative human impacts on marine habitats in Atlantic Canada","authors":"Grace E. P. Murphy,&nbsp;Andy Stock,&nbsp;Noreen E. Kelly","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4964","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4964","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Effective management and mitigation of multiple human impacts on marine ecosystems require accurate knowledge of the spatial patterns of human activities and their overlap with vulnerable habitats. Cumulative impact (CI) mapping combines spatial information and the intensity of human activities with the spatial extent of habitats and their vulnerabilities to those stressors into an intuitive relative CI score that can inform marine spatial planning processes and ecosystem-based management. Here, we mapped potential CIs of 45 human activities from five sectors (climate change, land-based, marine-based, coastal, commercial fishing) on 21 habitats in Atlantic Canada's Scotian Shelf bioregion. We applied an uncertainty and sensitivity analysis to assess the robustness of results and identify hot and cold spots of CIs. Nearly the entire Scotian Shelf bioregion experiences the CIs of human activities, and high CIs were frequently associated with multiple stressors. CIs varied widely across habitats: CI scores in habitats &gt;30 m deep were dominated by climate change and commercial fishing, while nearshore habitats were influenced by a much wider range of activities across all five sectors. When standardized by area, coastal habitats had among the highest CI scores, highlighting the intensity of multiple stressors in these habitats despite their relatively small spatial extent and emphasizing the importance of a multisector approach when managing coastal ecosystems. Robust hot spots of CIs (i.e., areas with high CI scores that were insensitive to alternative modeling assumptions and simulated data quality issues) occurred mostly in coastal areas where multiple high-intensity activities overlapped with highly vulnerable biogenic habitats. In contrast, robust cold spots of CI mostly occurred offshore. Overall, our results emphasize the need to consider CIs in management and protection and demonstrates that, in many areas, targeting only one activity will be insufficient to reduce overall human impact. The CI map will be useful to highlight areas in need of protection from multiple human impacts, provide information for ecological indicator development, and establish a baseline of the current state of human use in the bioregion.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.4964","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142165383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Anthropogenic disturbance and competitive avoidance shape the coexistence pattern of macaque species in tropical forests","authors":"Ru-Chuan He,&nbsp;Lin Wang,&nbsp;Alice C. Hughes,&nbsp;Ying Geng,&nbsp;Hui Cao,&nbsp;Ying Liu,&nbsp;Jia-Bin Li,&nbsp;Qiao-Yan Wang,&nbsp;Zheng-Bin Yang,&nbsp;Rui-Chang Quan","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70001","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The factors that enable the coexistence of closely related species remain a major question in ecology, particularly in human-disturbed habitats. The effects of anthropogenic disturbance and interspecific competition can exacerbate the decline in populations of competing species. The adoption of different strategies in responding to anthropogenic disturbances and competitive avoidances may create opportunities for competing species to coexist. However, few studies have explored how disturbance and competition interact to shape species coexistence. In this study, we conducted long-term and large-scale camera trap surveys comprising 540 sampling sites from 2017 to 2021 at Xishuangbanna, southwestern China, and deployed a spatiotemporal analysis framework to determine the effect of anthropogenic disturbances and competitive avoidances on the coexistence of three sympatric macaque species: Assamese macaque (<i>Macaca assamensis</i>; MA), northern pig-tailed macaque (<i>M. leonina</i>; ML), and rhesus macaque (<i>M. mulatta</i>; MM). Macaque species exhibited diverse responses to different types of anthropogenic disturbances. The occurrence probability of MM was positively associated with distance to road and relative abundance of human occurrence, and negatively associated with distance to cropland, which reduces the likelihood of sympatry between MM and the other two species due to their opposing responses to road, cropland, and human occurrence. Conversely, the similar responses to road and cropland increase the sympatry between MA and ML. Three macaque species did not avoid each other through shifting space use or their overall daily activity pattern. However, they delayed using the shared site after other species used it to avoid confrontation. We provide evidence that (1) the spatial co-occurrence pattern of sympatric macaque species was determined by anthropogenic disturbances rather than by competitive spatial avoidance and (2) fine-scale temporary avoidance is the strategy to alleviate their interspecific competition. These results enhance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms leading to species coexistence of nonhuman primates in human-disturbed habitats.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142165224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The abundance and distributional (in)equalities of forageable street tree resources in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria","authors":"Opeyemi Adeyemi,&nbsp;Charlie M. Shackleton","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70002","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Foraging for wild resources links urban citizens to nature and biodiversity while providing resources important for local livelihoods and culture. However, the abundance and distributional (in)equity of forageable urban tree resources have rarely been examined. Consequently, this study assessed the abundance of forageable street trees and their distribution in Lagos metropolis, Nigeria. During a survey of 32 randomly selected wards across 16 local government areas (LGAs) in the metropolis, 4017 street trees from 46 species were enumerated. The LGA with the highest number of street trees was Ikeja, with 818 trees, while Lagos Island had the lowest count, with two trees. This disparity in tree numbers could be attributed to variations in human population density within each LGA. Ninety-four percent of the street trees surveyed had at least one documented use and 76% had two, making them potentially forageable. However, the most common species had relatively low forageability scores. Only 5.6% of the total street tree population was rated as highly forageable, with a usability score of at least 11 out of 15. The most forageable street trees were fruit trees and non-native species. The forageable street trees in the LGAs showed a significant disparity in their distribution, as evidenced by a Gini coefficient of 0.81. Overall, richer neighborhoods had a higher street tree abundance, richness, and forageability potential. To meet greening and foraging goals and address the current inequitable distribution, we suggest allocating more funds for greening, particularly in low-income neighborhoods. Further research should evaluate forageable species from other sites to acquire a detailed understanding of the distribution and abundance of forageable resources in Lagos metropolis.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142165225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Phylogenetic relatedness of plant species co-occurring with an invasive alien plant species varies with elevation","authors":"Afshana,&nbsp;Jesús N. Pinto-Ledezma,&nbsp;Zafar A. Reshi","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4966","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4966","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Darwin's naturalization conundrum posits that the alien species either succeed in the introduced region because they are phylogenetically related to the native species and thus tend to have niches similar to those of native species, or they are phylogenetically dissimilar to native species and thus occupy unfilled niches. This conundrum has received a lot of attention, but the findings regarding these two hypotheses have been contradictory. To reconcile the two seemingly contradictory hypotheses, we assessed the phylogenetic relationship of a highly widespread and invasive species, <i>Anthemis cotula</i> L. (focal species), separately with the native species and all its co-occurring species (including native and non-native species) along an elevation gradient. Our results show that the abundance of <i>A. cotula</i> declined continuously with an increase in elevation and with an increase in the number of both all co-occurring and native species only. The phylogenetic distance between the focal species and the native species based on weighted mean pairwise distance (MPD_aw) declined with elevation as well as native species richness. Our study also revealed that soil nutrients strongly influence the abundance of <i>A. cotula</i>; however, their effect on the phylogenetic distance between the focal and other species is negligible. These findings suggest a strong role of microecological factors and spatial heterogeneity in the abundance distributions of invasive species and community assembly. Thus, it could be concluded that the phylogenetic relationship of <i>A. cotula</i> with co-occurring all or only native species varies with elevation and species richness, adding another layer of complexity to the resolution of Darwin's naturalization conundrum.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.4966","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142165384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bringing population ecology back to wild bees","authors":"Nicholas N. Dorian,&nbsp;Max W. McCarthy,&nbsp;Elizabeth E. Crone","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4973","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4973","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In recent years, motivated by widespread declines in wild bees, ecologists have prioritized learning about patterns of wild bee communities across the landscape at the expense of learning about the population-level mechanisms driving those patterns. In this essay, we seek to revitalize the tradition of studying wild bee populations in a way that both contributes key knowledge for bee conservation and builds a strong conceptual understanding of the processes underpinning bee populations. We address two widespread concerns about investing in population-level research. First, that population-level studies are too conceptually narrow to provide broad inference. If population-level studies are couched in general ecological theory, then findings from a single species can be generalized to many. We highlight how wild bees would make excellent candidates for exploring five areas of general ideas in population ecology, including nutritional ecology, drivers of vital rates, phenology and voltinism, habitat selection, and movement. Second, we address the concern that methods for studying bees at the population level are too difficult to implement. Methods for conducting population-level studies of bees—specifically, identifying living bees in the field and studying individuals throughout their life cycles—are feasible to implement at the scales appropriate for answering population-level questions, for example, a few species at a few sites. To facilitate adoption of these ideas, we developed an online field guide (www.watchingbees.com) and a detailed methods manual. More generally, we emphasize the value of linking data-rich pattern-oriented approaches in ecology with an understanding of the basic biology and mechanisms that generate those patterns.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.4973","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142165385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mesopredators have differing influences on prey habitat use and diel activity in a multipredator landscape","authors":"Gabriela Palomo-Munoz,&nbsp;Mason Fidino,&nbsp;Ty J. Werdel,&nbsp;Colleen W. Piper,&nbsp;Travis Gallo,&nbsp;Matthew S. Peek,&nbsp;Andrew M. Ricketts,&nbsp;Adam A. Ahlers","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70006","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Resource distribution, habitat structure, and predators greatly influence spatial and temporal landscape use by prey species. The “risky places” hypothesis establishes prey will proactively respond to predators' presence based on habitat cues, whereas the “risky times” hypothesis predicts prey will reactively respond by increasing vigilance in the presence of predators regardless of habitat cues. We fit a multiscale, Bayesian species interaction occupancy model with detection/non-detection data to evaluate black-tailed jackrabbit (<i>Lepus californicus</i>) and eastern cottontail rabbit (<i>Sylvilagus floridanus</i>) habitat use in the presence and absence of coyotes (<i>Canis latrans</i>), American badgers (<i>Taxidea taxus</i>), and swift foxes (<i>Vulpes velox</i>). We also evaluated how species-specific predator presence modified temporal activity patterns of prey. Jackrabbits decreased habitat use in areas with greater forage and opted to use areas with greater visibility when coyotes or swift foxes were present. However, cottontails used habitat in open areas with greater visibility when American badgers were present and all other predators absent, suggesting dissimilar habitat-use patterns dictated by predator-specific risks. Both lagomorph species are nocturnal with segregated peaks of activity compared with predators, suggesting fine-scale temporal use partitioning. Our results provide insights into predator–prey dynamics across heterogenous landscapes in a multi-predator system.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70006","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142165227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental assessment of environmental versus genetic influences on Macrocystis morphology","authors":"Sara T. Gonzalez,&nbsp;Peter T. Raimondi","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4959","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4959","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The two most common ecomorphs of giant kelp, <i>Macrocystis pyrifera</i> and <i>Macrocystis integrifolia</i>, exhibit almost no geographic overlap across their range in the temperate waters of North and South America, with few exceptions such as Stillwater Cove, CA, USA. However, in laboratory settings they are able to interbreed. The mechanism for the morphological variation is unknown, and whether these features are genetically fixed or malleable under different environmental conditions is unclear. Our study, for the first time, directly compared the growth, development, and morphological transformations of the two <i>Macrocystis</i> ecomorphs in a common garden experiment. We experimentally tested the influence of local environment on giant kelp morphology by rearing lab-cultured embryonic sporophytes from spores released by <i>M. pyrifera</i> and <i>M. integrifolia</i> sporophylls collected from multiple individuals at Stillwater Cove, CA. The spores were cultured in three treatments: “pyrifera-morph” only, “integrifolia-morph” only, and mixed (50:50 “pyrifera-morph”:“integrifolia-morph” spores). We outplanted the resultant embryonic sporophytes to concrete blocks installed at 7.5–9 m depth in the ocean and monitored the development of the sporophytes over 5 months. Our findings of distinct differences in morphology between the pyrifera-treatment and integrifolia-treatment individuals at multiple stages of development including reproductive adults indicates that the morphological differences between the two ecomorphs are genetically determined rather than environmentally induced. We found that primary stipe length and number of branches can be used as diagnostic traits for distinguishing the ecomorphs prior to the stage when adult sporophyte morphology can be definitively characterized. Additionally, no morphological hybrids were observed in the mixed-treatment, and ultimately the mixed-treatment individuals were more often categorized as “integrifolia-morph”-like than “pyrifera-morph”-like.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 9","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.4959","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142158617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The importance of heuweltjie patch isolation, size, and quality for arthropods in the Succulent Karoo, South Africa","authors":"Liaam Davids,&nbsp;James S. Pryke,&nbsp;Colleen L. Seymour","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70005","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A characteristic feature of Earth's drylands is the patchy nature of the vegetation, often referred to as a two-phase mosaic landscape, comprised of a homogenous matrix containing distinctive vegetated patches. The latter are considered vital for ecosystem functioning as they provide refuge to biota from unsuitable conditions. Ground-living (epigeic) and foliage arthropods contribute to dryland biodiversity patterns and processes, but little is known of how their richness, abundance, and composition varies between patches and the matrix in these systems. Throughout the Succulent Karoo, South Africa, such patches (earthen mounds referred to as <i>heuweltjies</i>) are hotspots for both floral and faunal diversity. We investigate how epigeic and foliage-dwelling arthropod species richness, abundance, and community composition respond to <i>heuweltjie</i> patch characteristics, particularly isolation (distance to nearest neighbor, average distance to nearest neighbor, patch density), size (area), and quality (average plant height, dead plant cover, leaf litter cover, termite frass) during a severe drought. Patch isolation and quality were significantly correlated with arthropod richness, abundance, and community composition. More specifically, average proximity of sampled <i>heuweltjies</i> to other neighboring <i>heuweltjies</i>, termite frass, and vegetation structure (height, leaf litter and dead plant cover) were key determinants for epigeic and foliage-dwelling arthropods' species richness, abundance, and community composition. The uniqueness of these mounds as landscape features increases niche and microhabitat availability for arthropods. This emphasizes their importance as promoters of landscape heterogeneity and highlight <i>heuweltjies</i> as key to the spatial distribution of arthropod assemblages in the Succulent Karoo.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142089868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cascading effects of mammal host community composition on tick vector occurrence at the urban human–wildlife interface","authors":"Jonathan Bastard,&nbsp;Nichar Gregory,&nbsp;Pilar Fernandez,&nbsp;Michaela Mincone,&nbsp;Olivia Card,&nbsp;Meredith C. VanAcker,&nbsp;Sara Kross,&nbsp;Maria A. Diuk-Wasser","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4957","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4957","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Habitat fragmentation and host community composition are implicated as key drivers of changing tick populations and tick-borne pathogen dynamics, altering infection risk through coupled socioecological pathways that mediate interactions between tick vectors, vertebrate hosts, and humans. Patterns of host diversity may be particularly idiosyncratic across urbanized landscapes, due to trade-offs between extreme fragmentation that reduces habitat suitability and access, and human activities that artificially increase resource availability for wildlife. We used camera and hair trap surveys and tick sampling to identify links between landscape composition and configuration, the mammalian host community, and the presence of three tick vector species at a human–wildlife interface in New York City, an emerging area within an endemic region for several tick-borne diseases. We found that human infrastructures, such as the presence of fences in yards, could affect mammal host community composition by changing the “hardness” of edges between urban greenspaces and residential areas. We identified yard- and broader landscape-level features associated with the presence of urban mammal species, and identified cascading effects of host community composition on tick distribution in yards, suggesting management implications for the mitigation of human exposure to tick-borne pathogens. In particular, we identified a possible role of ubiquitous mesomammals, such as raccoons (<i>Procyon lotor</i>), in transporting <i>Amblyomma americanum</i> ticks between parks and neighboring residential yards, and confirmed the key role of white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>) for introducing <i>Ixodes scapularis</i> ticks into yards. Our results challenge assumptions that biodiversity loss in human-modified areas always increases the risk for tick-borne diseases. Instead, we found many residential sites had higher mammal species richness and higher detection of low reservoir competent (“dilution”) hosts for <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i>, such as opossums (<i>Didelphis virginiana</i>), than paired forested greenspaces. Our study highlights the importance of disentangling the mechanisms mediating tick-borne disease hazard as a critical first step toward reducing urban tick-borne disease risk.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.4957","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142089811","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Western spotted skunk spatial ecology in the temperate rainforests of the Pacific Northwest","authors":"Marie I. Tosa,&nbsp;Damon B. Lesmeister,&nbsp;Taal Levi","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.4981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4981","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A major threat to small mammalian carnivore populations is human-induced land use change, but conservation and management are inhibited by limited knowledge about their ecology and natural history. To fill a key knowledge gap of the western spotted skunk (<i>Spilogale gracilis</i>), we investigated their spatial ecology at the landscape and home range scale in the temperate rainforests of the Oregon Cascades during 2017–2019. For the landscape scale analysis, we used detections of western spotted skunks at 112 baited camera traps and fitted a dynamic occupancy model to investigate spatial distribution and drivers of inter-seasonal and inter-annual changes in occupancy. Concurrently, we radio-collared 25 spotted skunks (9 female, 16 male) and collected 1583 relocations. Using continuous-time movement models, we estimated large home range sizes for both male and female spotted skunks, relative to their body mass, and highly overlapping home ranges that indicated a lack of territoriality. Using these home ranges, we fitted a resource selection function using environmental covariates that we assigned to various hypotheses such as resources, predator avoidance, thermal tolerance, and disturbance. Overall, western spotted skunks were widely distributed across our study area (seasonal occupancy up to 63.7 ± 5.3%) and highly detectable (weekly detection probability = 41.2%). At both spatial scales, spotted skunks selected wetter areas and local valleys, which we attributed to areas with more food resources. At the home range scale, spotted skunks selected locations with lower predation risk and areas surrounded by more previously logged forests. In this montane environment, inter-seasonal contractions in the spatial distributions of spotted skunks were strongly driven by their response to cold temperature and accumulated snow. This was especially evident when seasonal occupancy declined significantly following a severe heavy snow event in February 2019. Given that there is little information available on the natural history of the western spotted skunk, these results provide essential information about their ecology to focus future monitoring efforts and may help identify potential threats (e.g., forest management, severe snow events, or wildfires) to this species.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"15 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.4981","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142089814","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}