Date of Award

2025-08-01

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Biological Sciences

Advisor(s)

Elizabeth La Rue

Second Advisor

Brett Seymoure

Abstract

Coexistence among sympatric carnivores is shaped by behavioral strategies that mediate competition and mortality risk in heterogeneous landscapes. Understanding how sympatric carnivores, such as felids, use space and time in relation to one another requires models that account for both spatial and temporal overlap across landscapes. Models incorporating time-to-event probabilities provide a powerful framework for detecting behavioral dynamics across shared landscapes. This study evaluated the spatiotemporal responses of two apex predators â?? the jaguar (Panthera onca) and mountain lion (Puma concolor) - and two mesopredators - bobcat (Lynx rufus) and ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) - across five years of camera trap data from the Northern Jaguar Project in Sonora, Mexico. Jaguars in particular have experienced significant range contraction due to habitat loss, and the Northern Jaguar Project seeks to protect the critical breeding populations restricted to remote areas in northern Sonora, Mexico (Blust 2019). I used Piecewise Exponential Additive Mixed Models (PAMMs) to test four hypotheses of time-to-detection of mesopredators following apex predator presence, which included (1) no effect of spatial or temporal avoidance, (2) spatial avoidance, (3) spatial following, or (4) temporal displacement. Models comparing mountain lions to ocelots and bobcats supported no significant spatial avoidance or temporal displacement. In contrast, jaguar-mesopredator models revealed structured temporal dynamics. Ocelot detections peaked 10-15 days after jaguar events indicating temporal displacement while bobcats showed a sustained decline in detection throughout the 30-day interval indicating spatial avoidance. These patterns are consistent with the spatial following hypothesis (H2). Vegetation cover was not a significant predictor in any model, and no statistical evidence supported habitat-based spatial avoidance. These findings suggest that jaguars, but not mountain lions, might be altering mesopredator behavior patterns through temporal behavioral mechanisms. This study highlights the value of time-to-event models for detecting subtle interspecific interactions and advances for understanding how sympatric carnivores partition time to mitigate competition and mortality risk across shared landscapes. Furthermore, understanding how felids such as jaguar, mountain lion, bobcat, and ocelot use space and time in relation to one another can inform conservation strategies that prioritize shared habitat use.

Language

en

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Size

42 p.

File Format

application/pdf

Rights Holder

Kylie Marie Rezendes

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