Jaguar and Puma Activity Patterns and Predator‐Prey Interactions in Four Brazilian Biomes |
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Authors: | Vania C Foster Pedro Sarmento Rahel Sollmann Natalia Tôrres Anah T A Jácomo Nuno Negrões Carlos Fonseca Leandro Silveira |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Biology and Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, , 3810‐193 Aveiro, Portugal;2. Jaguar Conservation Fund/Instituto On?a‐Pintada, , Zona Rural, 75.830‐000 Mineiros, GO‐ Brazil;3. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, , Raleigh, NC, U.S.A |
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Abstract: | Jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor) coexist throughout the Neotropics. Using camera trapping in four Brazilian biomes, we compare the daily activity patterns of the jaguar and puma, and their relationships with their main prey species. We used a kernel density method to quantify daily activity patterns and to investigate overlap between these predators and their main prey. Both cats showed intensive nocturnal and crepuscular activity (0.69 and 0.14 kernel density, respectively, for jaguars; 0.68 and 0.19 kernel density, respectively, for pumas). Only in the Pantanal did we observe a pattern of concentrated diurnal activity for both species. We found little temporal segregation between jaguars and pumas, as they showed similar activity patterns with high coefficients of overlapping (average ?1 = 0.86; SE = 0.15). We also observed a significant overlap between the activity patterns of the predators and their main prey species, suggesting that both predators adjust their activity to reduce their foraging energy expenditure. Our findings suggest that temporal partitioning is probably not a generalized mechanism of coexistence between jaguars and pumas; instead, the partitioning of habitat/space use and food resources may play a larger role in mediating top predator coexistence. Knowledge about these behavior aspects is crucial to elucidating the factors that enable coexistence of jaguars and pumas. Furthermore, an understanding of their respective activity periods is relevant to management and associated research efforts. |
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Keywords: | camera trapping coefficient of overlapping kernel density estimator
Panthera onca
predator coexistence
Puma concolor
temporal partitioning |
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