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Does spatial co-occurrence of carnivores in a Central European agricultural landscape follow the null model?

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Abstract

Spatiotemporal heterogeneity in the distribution of resources, interspecific competition and predation are important factors determining the spatial distribution and co-occurrence of many animal taxa. Here, we use data from scent station field studies and permutation-based null model analyses to test whether spatial co-occurrence of different carnivores’ species is non-random in a Central European landscape that has been strongly modified and fragmented through human activity. In general, our results suggest a higher degree of spatial co-occurrence of different carnivore species than expected by chance; though it should be noted that this difference was not detectable under the conservative form of the null model. On the other hand, our data do not provide evidence for a significant degree of spatial segregation at the interspecific level. In conclusion, our results imply that antagonistic interactions, such as interspecific competition and predation, are not the dominant factors shaping spatial distribution of carnivores. Consequently, we suggest that the high degree of spatial co-occurrence might be a consequence of spatial heterogeneity in distribution of resources that are shared at the interspecific level.

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Acknowledgments

We are very grateful to P. Pavluvčík, O. Wonke, J. Svobodová, T. Albrecht and M. Koubová for their help with fieldwork and to K. Roche and J. Flaška for improving the English. This study was supported by grant MSMT6007665801 of the Czech Ministry of Education and by Research Aim of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic RVO: 68081766. This study was supported by grant MSMT6007665801 of the Czech Ministry of Education, by Research Aim of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic RVO: 68081766 and by grant of Grant Agency of University of South Bohemia 168/2013/P. JK was supported by Research Centre project no. LC06073.

Author contributions

Data collection: MŠ, EP, JČ, JK; Initial idea behind this contribution and data analysis: JK; Manuscript writing: MŠ, JK.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, 603 65, Brno, Czech Republic

    Martin Šálek & Jakub Kreisinger

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Applied Ecology Laboratory, University of South Bohemia, Studentská 13, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Jaroslav Červinka

  3. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Martin Šálek & Eliška Padyšáková

  4. Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, 128 44, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Jakub Kreisinger

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  1. Martin Šálek
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Correspondence to Martin Šálek.

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Communicated by C. Gortázar

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Šálek, M., Červinka, J., Padyšáková, E. et al. Does spatial co-occurrence of carnivores in a Central European agricultural landscape follow the null model?. Eur J Wildl Res 60, 99–107 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0755-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-013-0755-2

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