Abstract
Introduced species competing with native species can decrease the density and abundance of native species, causing concern for the persistence of native species populations. The presence of the introduced eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus—EC) in habitat patches with the imperiled New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis—NEC) can lead to interspecific competition. However, the degree to which this interspecific competition leads to changes in NEC relative abundance is unknown. We used open 2 species N-mixture models with directional interactions to determine how EC relative abundance at a site influences NEC relative abundance and how covariates affected both species’ relative abundance. We found that EC relative abundance had a strong negative influence on NEC relative abundance, with an estimated effect of − 0.163, providing further evidence of interspecific competition between the 2 species. We found evidence of resource partitioning between the 2 species, where NEC relative abundance was positively influenced and EC relative abundance was negatively influenced by vegetation heights of 0.5 to < 2.5 m. Overall, our results demonstrate the consequences of EC presence in native lagomorph ranges and the utility of N-mixture models for assessing the magnitude of interspecific competition between introduced and imperiled species.
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Data Availability
The datasets analyzed during this study are available in the GitHub repository, https://github.com/kathryn-bischoff/NEC_EC_data_bio_inv_2023.git.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the biologists working with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection that collected and shared the cottontail data with us, and Lisa Wahle, Andrea Petrullo, and Travis Goodie specifically for helping with data processing. We also acknowledge the New England Cottontail Regional Monitoring Program for their extensive efforts to monitor, learn, and adapt conservation strategies for New England cottontail. We also thank the team that created the Young Forest and Shrubland Vegetation Map for sharing their spatial product with us. Funding was provided by the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Needs Fellowship.
Funding
This work was supported by United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture National Needs Fellowship [2020–38420-30719].
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All authors contributed to the design of the study. Model preparation and analysis was conducted by KEB. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KEB and all authors approve of the final manuscript.
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Bischoff, K.E., Rittenhouse, T.A.G. & Rittenhouse, C.D. Introduced competitor reduces abundance of an imperiled cottontail. Biol Invasions 25, 3553–3566 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03124-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-023-03124-1