Abstract
Species’ coexistence depends on species-specific resource utilization in a given habitat. Human disturbances in this context can constrain the realized niche by altering their community dynamics. In this study, we considered Western Himalaya as a case study to test the hypothesis that human disturbances influence mesocarnivore coexistence patterns. We regarded red fox and leopard cat as the focal species and assessed the coexistence patterns in low and high human disturbance areas in three dimensions: spatial, temporal, and dietary habit. We used camera trap detections and mitochondrial DNA-based species identification of fecal samples. We used generalized linear mixed-effect modelling (GLMM), activity overlap, Levin’s niche breadth, and Pianka’s overlap index to capture the spatial, temporal, and dietary interactions respectively. We found that red fox and leopard cat coexisted by spatial segregation in low human disturbance area, whereas dietary segregation was the means of coexistence in high human disturbance area. We observed a broader dietary breadth for red fox and a narrower for leopard cat in high human disturbance area. The altered coexistence pattern due to differential human disturbances indicates intensive anthropogenic activities adjacent to natural forests. It can link to increased opportunities for shared spaces between mesocarnivores and humans, leading to future disease spread and conflicts. Our study contributes to scant ecological knowledge of these mesocarnivores and adds to our understanding of community dynamics in human-altered ecosystems. The study elucidates the need for long-term monitoring of wildlife inhabiting interface areas to ensure human and wildlife coexistence.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Allen, B. L., Allen, L. R., & Leung, L. K. P. (2015). Interactions between two naturalised invasive predators in Australia: Are feral cats suppressed by dingoes? Biological Invasions, 17(2), 761–776. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-014-0767-1
Angelici, F. M., & Rossi, L. (2020). Problematic wildlife II: New conservation and management challenges in the human-wildlfie interactions. Springer-Verlag, New York. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42335-3_7
Aryal, A., Sathyakumar, S., & Kreigenhofer, B. (2010). Opportunistic animal’s diet depend on prey availability: Spring dietary composition of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) in the Dhorpatan hunting reserve, Nepal. Journal of Ecology and the Natural Environment, 2(4), 59–63. http://www.academicjournals.org/jene
Bahuguna, A., Sahajpal, V., Goyal, S. P., Mukherjee, S. K., & Thakur, V. (2010). Species identification from guard hair of selected Indian mammals: a reference guide. Dehradun, India: Wildlife Institute of India.
Ball, M. C., Pither, R., Manseau, M., Clark, J., Petersen, S. D., Kingston, S., et al. (2007). Characterization of target nuclear DNA from faeces reduces technical issues associated with the assumptions of low-quality and quantity template. Conservation Genetics, 8, 577–586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-006-9193-y
Bashir, T., Bhattacharya, T., Poudyal, K., Sathyakumar, S., & Qureshi, Q. (2014). Integrating aspects of ecology and predictive modelling: Implications for the conservation of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) in the Eastern Himalaya. Acta Theriologica, 59(1), 35–47. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-013-0145-x
Bischof, R., Ali, H., Kabir, M., Hameed, S., & Nawaz, M. A. (2014). Being the underdog: An elusive small carnivore uses space with prey and time without enemies. Journal of Zoology, 293, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12100
Biswas, S., Bhatt, S., Paul, S., Modi, S., Ghosh, T., Habib, B., et al. (2019). A practive faeces collection protocol for multidisciplinary research in wildlife science. Current Science, 116(11), 1878–1885. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v116/i11/1878-1885
Bolker, B. M., Brooks, M. E., Clark, C. J., Geange, S. W., Poulsen, J. R., Stevens, M. H. H., & White, J. S. S. (2009). Generalized linear mixed models: A practical guide for ecology and evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 24(3), 127–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2008.10.008
Carricondo-Sanchez, D., Odden, M., Kulkarni, A., & Vanak, A. T. (2019). Scale-dependent strategies for coexistence of mesocarnivores in human-dominated landscapes. Biotropica, 51(5), 781–791. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12705
Carter, N. H., & Linnell, J. D. C. (2016). Co-adaptation is key to coexisting with large carnivores. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 31(8), 575–578. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2016.05.006
Carter, N. H., Shrestha, B. K., Karki, J. B., Pradhan, N. M. B., & Liu, J. (2012). Coexistence between wildlife and humans at fine spatial scales. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(38), 15360–15365. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1210490109
Chhabra, M. B., & Muraleedharan, K. (2016). Parasitic zoonoses and role of wildlife : An overview. Veterinary Research International, 4(1), 1–11.
Cremonesi, G., Bisi, F., Gaffi, L., Loprete, L., Zaw, T., Gagliardi, A., et al. (2021). Why we went to the woods?: Effects of human disturbance on species presence in a disturbed Myanmar forest ecosystem. Animal Conservation, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/acv.12759
Cronin, E. W. J. (1979). The Arun: a natural history of the world’s deepest valley. Houghton Mifflin.
Cusack, J. J., Dickman, A. J., Kalyahe, M., Rowcliffe, J. M., Carbone, C., MacDonald, D. W., & Coulson, T. (2017). Revealing kleptoparasitic and predatory tendencies in an African mammal community using camera traps: A comparison of spatiotemporal approaches. Oikos, 126(6), 812–822. https://doi.org/10.1111/oik.03403
Davies, J. T., Meiri, S., Barraclough, T. G., & Gittleman, J. L. (2007). Species co-existence and character divergence across carnivores. Ecology Letters, 10, 146–152. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.01005.x
De Almeida Jácomo, A. T., Silveira, L., & Diniz-Filho, J. A. F. (2004). Niche separation between the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), the crab-eating fox (Dusicyon thous) and the hoary fox (Dusicyon vetulus) in central Brazil. Journal of Zoology, 262, 99–106. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0952836903004473
De Satgé, J., Teichman, K., & Cristescu, B. (2017). Competition and coexistence in a small carnivore guild. Oecologia, 184(4), 873–884. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3916-2
Descalzo, E., Torres, J. A., Ferreras, P., & Díaz-Ruiz, F. (2021). Methodological improvements for detecting and identifying scats of an expanding mesocarnivore in south-western Europe. Mammalian Biology, 101(1), 71–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00062-6
Dias, D. M., Massara, R. L., De Campos, C. B., & Rodrigues, F. H. G. (2019). Feline predator–prey relationships in a semi-arid biome in Brazil. Journal of Zoology, 307(4), 282–291. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12647
Duduś, L., Zalewski, A., Kozioł, O., Jakubiec, Z., & Król, N. (2014). Habitat selection by two predators in an urban area: The stone marten and red fox in Wrocław (SW Poland). Mammalian Biology, 79(1), 71–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2013.08.001
Duelli, P. (1997). Biodiversity evaluation in agricultural landscapes: An approach at two different scales. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 62, 81–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0167-8809(96)01143-7
Farrell, L. E., Roman, J., & Sunquist, M. E. (2000). Dietary separation of sympatric carnivores identified by molecular analysis of scats. Molecular Ecology, 9(10), 1583–1590. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-294x.2000.01037.x
Farris, Z. J., Gerber, B. D., Karpanty, S., Murphy, A., Andrianjakarivelo, V., Ratelolahy, F., & Kelly, M. J. (2015). When carnivores roam: Temporal patterns and overlap among Madagascar’s native and exotic carnivores. Journal of Zoology, 296(1), 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12216
Fedriani, J. M., Palomares, F., & Delibes, M. (1999). Niche relations among three sympatric Mediterranean carnivores. Oecologia, 121, 138–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s004420050915
Finnegan, S. P., Gantchoff, M. G., Hill, J. E., Silveira, L., Tôrres, N. M., Jácomo, A. T., & Uzal, A. (2021). “When the felid’s away, the mesocarnivores play”: Seasonal temporal segregation in a neotropical carnivore guild. Mammalian Biology, 101(5), 631–638. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-021-00110-9
Gantchoff, M. G., & Belant, J. L. (2016). Patterns of coexistence between two mesocarnivores in northern Patagonia in the presence of invasive hares and anthropogenic disturbance. Austral Ecology, 41(1), 97–105. https://doi.org/10.1111/aec.12303
Gause, G. (1934). The struggle for existence: a classic of mathematical biology and ecology. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://asantos.webs.ull.es/The%20Struggle%20for%20Existence.pdf
Ghoshal, A. (2011). Impact of urbanization on winter resource use and relative abundance of a commensal carnivore, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Forest Research Institute University. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Abhishek-Ghoshal-2/publication/295857628_Impact_of_urbanization_on_winter_resource_use_and_relative_abundance_of_a_commensal_carnivore_the_red_fox_Vulpes_vulpes/links/56ce932b08ae85c8233e9891/Impactof-urbanization-on-winter-resource-use-and-relative-abundance-of-a-commensal-carnivore-the-red-fox-Vulpes-vulpes.pdf
Ghoshal, A., Bhatnagar, Y. V., Mishra, C., & Suryawanshi, K. (2016). Response of the red fox to expansion of human habitation in the Trans-Himalayan mountains. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 62(1), 131–136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-015-0967-8
Grassel, S. M., Rachlow, J. L., & Williams, C. J. (2015). Spatial interactions between sympatric carnivores: Asymmetric avoidance of an intraguild predator. Ecology and Evolution, 5(14), 2762–2773. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1561
Gray, V., & Lowery, D. (1996). A niche theory of interest representation. The Journal of Politics, 58(1), 91–111. https://doi.org/10.2307/2960350
Hardin, G. (1960). The competitive exclusion principle. Science, 131, 1292–1297.
Hisano, M., & Newman, C. (2020). Adaptations to prey base in the hypercarnivorous leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis. Ethology Ecology and Evolution, 32(4), 324–335. https://doi.org/10.1080/03949370.2020.1711816
Holt, R. D., & Polis, G. A. (1997). A theoretical framework for intraguild predation. The American Naturalist, 149(4), 745–764. https://doi.org/10.1086/286018
Hua, Y., Vitekere, K., Wang, J., Zhu, M., Zaman, M., & Jiang, G. (2020). Coexistence of sympatric carnivores in a relatively homogenous landscape and the effects of environmental factors on site occupation. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 57(1–6), 47–58. https://doi.org/10.5735/086.057.0106
Hurlbert, S. H. (1978). The measurement of niche overlap and some relatives. Ecology, 59(1), 67–77. https://doi.org/10.2307/1936632
Katna, A., Kulkarni, A., Thaker, M., & Vanak, A. T. (2022). Habitat specificity drives differences in space-use patterns of multiple mesocarnivores in an agroecosystem. Journal of Zoology, 316(2), 92–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12933
Kronfeld-Schor, N., & Dayan, T. (2003). Partitioning of time as an ecological resource. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 34, 153–181. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.34.011802.132435
Lonsinger, R. C., Knight, R. N., & Waits, L. P. (2021). Detection criteria and post-field sample processing influence results and cost efficiency of occupancy-based monitoring. Ecological Applications, 31(7), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2404
Lorica, M. R. P., & Heaney, L. R. (2013). Survival of a native mammalian carnivore, the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis Kerr, 1792 (Carnivora: Felidae), in an agricultural landscape on an oceanic Philippine island. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 5(10), 4451–4460. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.o3352.4451-60
Macarthur, R., & Levins, R. (1967). The limiting similarity, convergence, and divergence of coexisting species. The American Naturalist, 101(921), 377–385.
Manlick, P. J., & Pauli, J. N. (2020). Human disturbance increases trophic niche overlap in terrestrial carnivore communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(43), 26842–26848. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012774117
Manlick, P. J., Windels, S. K., Woodford, J. E., & Pauli, J. N. (2020). Can landscape heterogeneity promote carnivore coexistence in human-dominated landscapes? Landscape Ecology, 35(9), 2013–2027. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-020-01077-7
Meredith, M., & Ridout, M. (2021). Overview of the overlap package. R project. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/overlap/overlap.pdf
Monterroso, P., Alves, P. C., & Ferreras, P. (2014). Plasticity in circadian activity patterns of mesocarnivores in Southwestern Europe: Implications for species coexistence. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 68(9), 1403–1417. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-014-1748-1
Monterroso, P., Alves, P. C., & Ferreras, P. (2015). Ecological interactions and species coexistence in Iberian mesocarnivore communities - Extended summary and main results. Galemys, Spanish Journal of Mammalogy, 27(April 2016), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.7325/galemys.2015.a6
Mori, E., Bagnato, S., Serroni, P., Sangiuliano, A., Rotondaro, F., Marchianò, V., et al. (2020). Spatiotemporal mechanisms of coexistence in an European mammal community in a protected area of southern Italy. Journal of Zoology, 310(3), 232–245. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12743
Morin, D. J., Higdon, S. D., Holub, J. L., Montague, D. M., Fies, M. L., Waits, L. P., & Kelly, M. J. (2016). Bias in carnivore diet analysis resulting from misclassification of predator scats based on field identification. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 40(4), 669–677. https://doi.org/10.1002/wsb.723
Mukherjee, S., Goyal, S. P., & Chellam, R. (1994). Standarization of scats analysis technique for leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in Gir National Park, western India. Mammalia, 58, 139–143.
Nadin-Davis, S. A., Falardeau, E., Flynn, A., Whitney, H., & Dawn Marshall, H. (2021). Relationships between fox populations and rabies virus spread in northern Canada. PLoS One, 16(2 February), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246508
Naha, D., Chaudhary, P., Sonker, G., & Sathyakumar, S. (2020). Effectiveness of non-lethal predator deterrents to reduce livestock losses to leopard attacks within a multiple-use landscape of the Himalayan region. PeerJ, 8. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.9544
Namusisi, S., Mahero, M., Travis, D., Pelican, K., Robertson, C., & Mugisha, L. (2021). A descriptive study of zoonotic disease risk at the human-wildlife interface in a biodiversity hot spot in South Western Uganda. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 15(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008633
Noor, A., Mir, Z. R., Veeraswami, G. G., & Habib, B. (2017). Activity patterns and spatial co-occurrence of sympatric mammals in the moist temperate forest of the Kashmir Himalaya, India. Folia Zoologica, 66(4), 231–241. https://doi.org/10.25225/fozo.v66.i4.a4.2017
Oja, R., Soe, E., Valdmann, H., & Saarma, U. (2017). Non-invasive genetics outperforms morphological methods in faecal dietary analysis, revealing wild boar as a considerable conservation concern for ground-nesting birds. PLoS One, 12(6), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179463
Pandit, M. K., Manish, K., & Koh, L. P. (2014). Dancing on the roof of the world: Ecological transformation of the himalayan landscape. BioScience, 64(11), 980–992. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biu152
Parsons, A. W., Rota, C. T., Forrester, T., Baker-Whatton, M. C., McShea, W. J., Schuttler, S. G., et al. (2019). Urbanization focuses carnivore activity in remaining natural habitats, increasing species interactions. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56(8), 1894–1904. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13385
Pasanen-Mortensen, M., Pyykönen, M., & Elmhagen, B. (2013). Where lynx prevail, foxes will fail - Limitation of a mesopredator in Eurasia. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 22, 868–877. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12051
Pebesma, E. J. (2004). Multivariable geostatistics in S: The gstat package. Computers and Geosciences, 30(7), 683–691. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2004.03.012
Penjor, U., Astaras, C., Cushman, S. A., Kaszta, Z., & MacDonald, D. W. (2022). Contrasting effects of human settlement on the interaction among sympatric apex carnivores. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 289. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.2681
Plumer, L., Davison, J., Saarma, U., & Cameron, E. Z. (2014). Rapid urbanization of red foxes in estonia: Distribution, behaviour, attacks on domestic animals, and health-risks related to zoonotic diseases. PLoS One, 9(12), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0115124
Rajaratnam, R., Sunquist, M., Rajaratnam, L., & Ambu, L. (2007). Diet and habitat selection of the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis) in an agricultural landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 23(2), 209–217. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266467406003841
Randa, L. A., & Yunger, J. A. (2006). Carnivore occurrence along an urban-rural gradient: A landscape-level analysis. Journal of Mammalogy, 87(6), 1154–1164. https://doi.org/10.1644/05-MAMM-A-224R2.1
Rashid, I., Romshoo, S. A., & Vijayalakshmi, T. (2013). Geospatial modelling approach for identifying disturbance regimes and biodiversity rich areas in North Western Himalayas, India. Biodiversity and Conservation, 22(11), 2537–2566. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-013-0538-9
Reshamwala, H. S., Shrotriya, S., Bora, B., Lyngdoh, S., Dirzo, R., & Habib, B. (2018). Anthropogenic food subsidies change the pattern of red fox diet and occurrence across Trans-Himalayas, India. Journal of Arid Environments, 150, 15–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2017.12.011
Rodriguez, J. T., Lesmeister, D. B., & Levi, T. (2021). Mesocarnivore landscape use along a gradient of urban, rural, and forest cover. PeerJ, 9, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.11083
Roy, S., Ghoshal, A., Bijoor, A., & Suryawanshi, K. (2018). Distribution and activity pattern of stone marten Martes foina in relation to prey and predators. Mammalian Biology, 96(1), 110–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2018.09.013
Sathyakumar, S. (2000). Status and management of Asiatic black bear and Himalayan brown bear in India. Ursus, 12(2001), 21–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/3873225
Schaller, G. B. (1980). Stones of silence. Deutsch.
Schoener, T. W. (1974). Resouce partitioning in ecological communities: Research on how similar species divide resources helps reveal the natural regulation of species diversity. Science, 185(4145), 27–39.
Sévêque, A., Gentle, L. K., López-Bao, J. V., Yarnell, R. W., & Uzal, A. (2020). Human disturbance has contrasting effects on niche partitioning within carnivore communities. Biological Reviews, 95(6), 1689–1705. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12635
Shao, X., Lu, Q., Liu, M., Xiong, M., Bu, H., Wang, D., et al. (2021a). Generalist carnivores can be effective biodiversity samplers of terrestrial vertebrates. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 19(10), 557–563. https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2407
Shao, X., Lu, Q., Xiong, M., Bu, H., Shi, X., Wang, D., et al. (2021b). Prey partitioning and livestock consumption in the world’s richest large carnivore assemblage. Current Biology, 31(22), R1474–R1476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.067
Singh, S. K., & Rawat, G. S. (1999). Floral diversity and vegetation structure in Great Himalayan National Park, Western Himalaya. GHNP FREEP Report, 2(5), 1–128. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://greathimalayannationalpark.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Research_Floral_Diversity_of_GHNP_by_Singh__Rawat.pdf
Smith, J. A., Thomas, A. C., Levi, T., Wang, Y., Wilmers, C., & C. (2018). Human activity reduces niche partitioning among three widespread mesocarnivores. Oikos, 127(6), 890–901.
Steen, D. A., Mcclure, C. J. W., Brock, J. C., Craig Rudolph, D., Pierce, J. B., Lee, J. R., et al. (2014). Snake co-occurrence patterns are best explained by habitat and hypothesized effects of interspecific interactions. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83(1), 286–295. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12121
Tammeleht, E., & Kuuspu, M. (2018). Effect of competition and landscape characteristics on mesocarnivore cohabitation in badger setts. Journal of Zoology, 305(1), 8–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12529
Tattersall, E. R., Burgar, J. M., Fisher, J. T., & Burton, A. C. (2020). Boreal predator co-occurrences reveal shared use of seismic lines in a working landscape. Ecology and Evolution, 10(3), 1678–1691. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.6028
Torretta, E., Mosini, A., Piana, M., Tirozzi, P., Serafini, M., Puopolo, F., et al. (2017). Time partitioning in mesocarnivore communities from different habitats of NW Italy: Insights into martens’ competitive abilities. Behaviour, 154(2), 241–266. https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-00003420
Torretta, E., Serafini, M., Puopolo, F., & Schenone, L. (2016). Spatial and temporal adjustments allowing the coexistence among carnivores in Liguria (N-W Italy). Acta Ethologica, 19(2), 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-015-0231-y
UNESCO. (2011, January). The Republic of India's nomination of the Great Himalayan National Park for inscription on the World Heritage list. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1406rev.pdf
Verdade, L. M., Rosalino, L. M., Gheler-Costa, C., Pedroso, N. M., & Lyra-Jorge, M. C. (2011). Adaptation of mesocarnivores (mammalia: carnivora) to agricultural landscapes in Mediterranean Europe and Southeastern Brazil: a trophic perspective. Middle-Sized Carnivores in Agricultural Landscapes. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 1–38.
Vernes, K., Rajaratnam, R., & Dorji, S. (2021). Patterns of species co-occurrence in a diverse Eastern Himalayan montane carnivore community. Mammal Research, 67(2), 139–149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-021-00605-3
Vinod, T. R., & Sathyakumar, S. (1999). Ecology and conservation of mountain ungulates in Great Himalayan National Park, Western Himalaya. GHNP FREEP Report (Vol. 3).
Vitekere, K., Lango, L. M., Wang, J., Zhu, M., Jiang, G., & Hua, Y. (2021). Threats to site occupation of carnivores: A spatiotemporal encroachment of non-native species on the native carnivore community in a human-dominated protected area. Zoological Studies, 60(52), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.6620/ZS.2021.60-52
Vitekere, K., Wang, J., Karanja, H., Consolée, K. T., Jiang, G., & Hua, Y. (2020). Dynamic in species estimates of carnivores (Leopard cat, red fox, and north chinese leopard): A multi-year assessment of occupancy and coexistence in the tieqiaoshan nature reserve, Shanxi province, China. Animals, 10(8), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10081333
Walker, R. S., Novaro, A. J., Perovic, P., Palacios, R., Donaldo, E., Lucherini, M., et al. (2007). Diets of three species of andean carnivores in high-altitude deserts of Argentina. Journal of Mammalogy, 88(2), 519–525.
Woodroffe, R. (2000). Predators and people: Using human densities to interpret declines of large carnivores. Animal Conservation, 3, 165–173. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2000.tb00241.x
Woodroffe, R., & Ginsberg, J. R. (1998). Edge effects and the extinction of populations inside protected areas. Science, 280, 2126–2128. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.280.5372.2126
Yadav, P., Kumar, A., Yadav, N., & Gupta, S. K. (2021). The complete mitochondrial genome of critically endangered hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu) and its comparison with the other red deer. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://assets.researchsquare.com/files/rs-451509/v2/a1c8af96-283e-4cd3-911e-8dc6836a6879.pdf?c=1655132040
Zhao, G., Yang, H., Xie, B., Gong, Y., Ge, J., & Feng, L. (2020). Spatio-temporal coexistence of sympatric mesocarnivores with a single apex carnivore in a fine-scale landscape. Global Ecology and Conservation, 21, e00897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00897
Zuur, A. F. (2012). A beginner’s guide to generalized additive models with R (pp. 1–206). Newburgh: Highland Statistics Limited. Retrieved February 9, 2023, from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cornelis-Camphuysen/publication/287214411_Generalised_additive_models_applied_on_northern_gannets/links/56f252b708ae4744a9202345/Generalised-additive-models-applied-on-northerngannets.pdf
Zuur, A. F., Hilbe, J. M., & Ieno, E. N. (2013). A beginner’s guide to GLM and GLMM with R: A frequentist and Bayesiain perspective for ecologists. Beginner’s Guide Series, 253.
Zuur, A. K., Leno, E. N., & Smith, G. M. (2007). Analysing ecological data. Springer.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to the Himachal Pradesh Forest Department officials and staff for being cordial. We thank the Director, Dean and Research Coordinator, Laboratory in-charge, and Nodal Officer, WFCG Cell of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, for their continuous support and encouragement. This study would have been impossible without our field teams’ immense hard work: Pritam Thakur, Padam Thakur, Bintu, Duni, Hemchand, Dilip, Yograj, and Punma Devi. We also thank Rakesh Sundariyal for maintaining the laboratory decorum and for his continued support during the dietary analysis.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) program (No: GBPI/NMHS/HF/RA/2015–16/HJRF003) an initiative by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC). Meghna Bandyopadhyay has received the research support from NMHS to carry out the study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Meghna Bandyopadhyay and Ramesh Krishnamurthy conceived the project. Ramesh Krishnamurthy provided overall supervision and resource acquisitions. Meghna Bandyopadhyay conceptualized the study. Meghna Bandyopadhyay and Tryambak Dasgupta conducted the field work. Meghna Bandyopadhyay and Suvankar Biswas performed the DNA-based species identification. Meghna Bandyopadhyay, Suvankar Biswas, and Tryambak Dasgupta performed the morphological prey species identification. Meghna Bandyopadhyay performed the data curation and analysis. Meghna Bandyopadhyay wrote the first draft of the manuscript and all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval statement
Due to the non-invasive nature (fecal sample–based) of the work, no ethical clearance was required in the study.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Bandyopadhyay, M., Biswas, S., Dasgupta, T. et al. Patterns of coexistence between two mesocarnivores in presence of anthropogenic disturbances in Western Himalaya. Environ Monit Assess 195, 397 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11003-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-023-11003-4