Effects of Prey Presence and Scale on Bobcat Resource Selection during Winter

PLoS One. 2015 Nov 18;10(11):e0143347. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143347. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Factors relevant to resource selection in carnivores may vary across spatial and temporal scales, both in magnitude and rank. Understanding relationships among carnivore occupancy, prey presence, and habitat characteristics, as well as their interactions across multiple scales, is necessary to improve our understanding of resource selection and predict population changes. We used a multi-scale dynamic hierarchical co-occurrence model with camera data to study bobcat and snowshoe hare occupancy in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during winter 2012-2013. Bobcat presence was influenced at the local scale by snowshoe hare presence, and by road density at the local and larger scale when hare were absent. Hare distribution was related primarily to vegetation cover types, and detectability varied in space and time. Bobcat occupancy dynamics were influenced by different factors depending on the spatial scale considered and the resource availability context. Moreover, considering observed co-occurrence, we suggest that bobcat presence had a greater effect on hare occupancy than hare presence on bobcat occupancy. Our results highlight the importance of studying carnivore distributions in the context of predator-prey relationships and its interactions with environmental covariates at multiple spatial scales. Our approach can be applied to other carnivore species to provide insights beneficial for management and conservation.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Ecosystem
  • Hares / physiology*
  • Lynx / physiology*
  • Michigan
  • Predatory Behavior / physiology*
  • Probability
  • Seasons*

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration; Michigan Department of Natural Resources; Safari Club International Foundation; Michigan Involvement Committee of Safari Club International Foundation; and Undergraduate Research Scholars Program of Mississippi State University. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.