Influence of predator suppression and prey availability on carnivore occurrence in western Himalaya

Abstract

Species assemblages are influenced by trophic and intraguild interactions, which may be competitive, facilitative, or neutral. These interactions vary in relative importance depending on resource availability. We assessed the nature of interactions among six carnivore species (Ursus arctos, Panthera uncia, Vulpes vulpes, Mustela altaica, and Martes foina) and their prey (Capra sibirica, Pseudois nayaur, Hemitragus jemlahicus, Moschus leucogaster, Ochotona sp., and Rodentia sp.) by examining their spatial–temporal overlaps using camera-trap data gathered between 2016 and 2019 from the resource-limited landscapes of the high Himalayas. We examined fine scale pairwise spatial interaction using multi-species occupancy method and temporal overlap using time activity kernel densities function. Carnivore species showed relatively high spatio-temporal overlap. We found spatial avoidance between two pairs and temporal avoidance between four out of 15 pairs. Contrary to our expectation that carnivore species would segregate due to competition in a resource-poor environment, our results showed that they generally showed significant co-occurrence and appeared to track their prey's activity. Our findings highlight the potentially overriding role of prey availability in influencing carnivore species occurrence in resource-poor landscapes.