Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India
<p>The global decline of large carnivore populations warrants scientific insights into intraguild relationships. Patterns of co-occurrence among sympatric predators are governed by their density, distribution, diet, activity overlaps, and behavioural strategies. Tigers are sympatric with leopa...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-02-01
|
| Series: | Web Ecology |
| Online Access: | https://we.copernicus.org/articles/23/17/2023/we-23-17-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1811173201291509760 |
|---|---|
| author | A. B. Chatterjee K. Sankar K. Sankar Y. V. Jhala Q. Qureshi |
| author_facet | A. B. Chatterjee K. Sankar K. Sankar Y. V. Jhala Q. Qureshi |
| author_sort | A. B. Chatterjee |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>The global decline of large carnivore populations warrants scientific
insights into intraguild relationships. Patterns of co-occurrence among
sympatric predators are governed by their density, distribution, diet,
activity overlaps, and behavioural strategies. Tigers are sympatric with
leopards across their distribution range, overlap substantially in their
diet, and are both nocturnal. The subdominant leopard is believed to coexist
with tigers via several mechanisms like spatial segregation, temporal
avoidance, and differential prey selection. Investigation of
spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards can provide
insights on mechanisms that permit coexistence. We used camera trap-based
photo captures of tigers and leopards in prey-rich (<span class="inline-formula">58.15±10.61</span>
ungulates per <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span>) Pench Tiger Reserve to determine their spatio-temporal
patterns of co-occurrence. Spatially explicit density estimates of tigers
were approximately 5 per 100 <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span> and leopards were approximately 4.5 per
100 <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span> and remained stable over the years. This implies that both these
co-predators are likely to attain carrying capacity within the study area.
Areas with high tiger density had lower leopard density. Quantile regression
analysis between tiger and leopard density at <span class="inline-formula">2×2</span> km grid showed that
leopard density had a parabolic relationship with tiger density, initially
increasing with tigers (<span class="inline-formula"><i>β</i>=0.393</span>; <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i>=0.001</span>), stable at medium tiger
density (<span class="inline-formula"><i>β</i>=0.13</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i>=0.15</span>), and declining at high tiger densities
(<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi mathvariant="italic">β</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.37</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="51pt" height="12pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="6b61261063f034424f84978781f3f400"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="we-23-17-2023-ie00001.svg" width="51pt" height="12pt" src="we-23-17-2023-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i><0.001</span>). Both tigers and leopards were
crepuscular in nature with no temporal segregation (<span class="inline-formula">Δ=89</span> %).
Time lag of consecutive leopard photograph after a tiger capture ranged
between 0.002 to 36.29 d. Leopard use of trails was not related to use by tigers. Our results suggest that leopards adjust their usage of space
at fine scales to avoid confrontations with tigers. We also observed high
temporal overlap and no spatio-temporal segregation between tigers and
leopards, despite the two predators being nocturnal and having similar prey
choices. The availability of ample prey within the study area is likely to
be the driving factor of the co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within
this dry deciduous habitat of central India.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T17:42:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-11cc542dede44b4d978055044dc1c80d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2193-3081 1399-1183 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T17:42:50Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Web Ecology |
| spelling | doaj.art-11cc542dede44b4d978055044dc1c80d2023-02-03T06:32:14ZengCopernicus PublicationsWeb Ecology2193-30811399-11832023-02-0123173410.5194/we-23-17-2023Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central IndiaA. B. Chatterjee0K. Sankar1K. Sankar2Y. V. Jhala3Q. Qureshi4Department of Population Management, Capture and Rehabilitation, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, IndiaDepartment of Population Management, Capture and Rehabilitation, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, IndiaEx-director, Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641108, IndiaDepartment of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, IndiaDepartment of Population Management, Capture and Rehabilitation, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, India<p>The global decline of large carnivore populations warrants scientific insights into intraguild relationships. Patterns of co-occurrence among sympatric predators are governed by their density, distribution, diet, activity overlaps, and behavioural strategies. Tigers are sympatric with leopards across their distribution range, overlap substantially in their diet, and are both nocturnal. The subdominant leopard is believed to coexist with tigers via several mechanisms like spatial segregation, temporal avoidance, and differential prey selection. Investigation of spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards can provide insights on mechanisms that permit coexistence. We used camera trap-based photo captures of tigers and leopards in prey-rich (<span class="inline-formula">58.15±10.61</span> ungulates per <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span>) Pench Tiger Reserve to determine their spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence. Spatially explicit density estimates of tigers were approximately 5 per 100 <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span> and leopards were approximately 4.5 per 100 <span class="inline-formula">km<sup>2</sup></span> and remained stable over the years. This implies that both these co-predators are likely to attain carrying capacity within the study area. Areas with high tiger density had lower leopard density. Quantile regression analysis between tiger and leopard density at <span class="inline-formula">2×2</span> km grid showed that leopard density had a parabolic relationship with tiger density, initially increasing with tigers (<span class="inline-formula"><i>β</i>=0.393</span>; <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i>=0.001</span>), stable at medium tiger density (<span class="inline-formula"><i>β</i>=0.13</span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i>=0.15</span>), and declining at high tiger densities (<span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M10" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mi mathvariant="italic">β</mi><mo>=</mo><mo>-</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">0.37</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="51pt" height="12pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="6b61261063f034424f84978781f3f400"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="we-23-17-2023-ie00001.svg" width="51pt" height="12pt" src="we-23-17-2023-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> and <span class="inline-formula"><i>p</i><0.001</span>). Both tigers and leopards were crepuscular in nature with no temporal segregation (<span class="inline-formula">Δ=89</span> %). Time lag of consecutive leopard photograph after a tiger capture ranged between 0.002 to 36.29 d. Leopard use of trails was not related to use by tigers. Our results suggest that leopards adjust their usage of space at fine scales to avoid confrontations with tigers. We also observed high temporal overlap and no spatio-temporal segregation between tigers and leopards, despite the two predators being nocturnal and having similar prey choices. The availability of ample prey within the study area is likely to be the driving factor of the co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within this dry deciduous habitat of central India.</p>https://we.copernicus.org/articles/23/17/2023/we-23-17-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | A. B. Chatterjee K. Sankar K. Sankar Y. V. Jhala Q. Qureshi Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India Web Ecology |
| title | Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India |
| title_full | Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India |
| title_fullStr | Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India |
| title_short | Spatio-temporal patterns of co-occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central India |
| title_sort | spatio temporal patterns of co occurrence of tigers and leopards within a protected area in central india |
| url | https://we.copernicus.org/articles/23/17/2023/we-23-17-2023.pdf |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT abchatterjee spatiotemporalpatternsofcooccurrenceoftigersandleopardswithinaprotectedareaincentralindia AT ksankar spatiotemporalpatternsofcooccurrenceoftigersandleopardswithinaprotectedareaincentralindia AT ksankar spatiotemporalpatternsofcooccurrenceoftigersandleopardswithinaprotectedareaincentralindia AT yvjhala spatiotemporalpatternsofcooccurrenceoftigersandleopardswithinaprotectedareaincentralindia AT qqureshi spatiotemporalpatternsofcooccurrenceoftigersandleopardswithinaprotectedareaincentralindia |