Spatial ecological interactions between coyote and gray fox in a temperate forest
Keywords:
Biosphere reserve, Canis latrans, coexistence, Durango, habitat use, home range, overlap, radiotelemetry, segregation, Urocyon cinereoargenteusAbstract
Coyotes (Canis latrans) and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) are abundant and widely distributed in México, with no information currently available about their spatial interactions in the country. Our objectives were to evaluate the habitat use of these species and the environmental interactions between them throughout the overlapping areas of their home ranges in temperate forests of Durango, México. We expected that their coexistence would be facilitated by the spatial segregation of their ecological niche, exhibited by the low or nil overlap between their home ranges or by differentiated habitat use. Radio-collars (VHF) were attached to nine individuals — four coyotes (two males and two females) and five gray foxes (females) — that were radio-tracked from September 2017 to August 2019. We estimated their home ranges and the size of their core areas through the minimum convex polygon and determined the extent of overlap between them. Also, we evaluated third-order habitat selection and use based on habitat availability using Manly’s habitat-selection ratios and simultaneous Bonferroni confidence intervals (95 %). The mean home range size for coyotes was larger (12.2 ± 1.74 km2) than for gray boxes (5.3 ± 0.67 km2); the interspecific mean overlap was 42 % (moderate). Of these two canids, just the gray fox showed a markedly selective habitat use. Our findings revealed a moderate overlap between the home ranges of both canids, so spatial segregation did not occur. Although a differential habitat use was observed, explaining the coexistence between these two canids in the areas where they thrive, they tend to avoid agonistic interactions.References
AEBISCHER, N. J., P. A. ROBERTSON, AND R. E. KENWARD. 1993. Compositional analysis of habitat use from animal radio tracking data. Ecology 74:1313–1325.
ANDELT, W. F., AND P. S. GIPSON. 1979. Home range, activity, and daily movements of coyotes. The Journal of Wildlife Management 43:944–951.
ANDRADE-PONCE, G. P., S. GALLINA, B. GÓMEZ-VALENCIA, AND A. LIRA-NORIEGA. 2020. Coexistencia de Vulpes macrotis y Canis latrans (Carnivora: Canidae) en la Reserva de la Biosfera de Mapimí, México. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 91:1–17.
BEKOFF, M. 1977. Canis latrans. Mammalian species 79:1–9.
BERGER, K. M., AND E. M. GESE. 2007. Does interference competition with wolves limit the distribution and abundance of coyotes? Journal of Animal Ecology 76:1075–1085.
BU, H., F. WANG, W. J. MCSHEA, Z. LU, D. WANG, AND S. LI. 2016. Spatial co-occurrence and activity patterns of mesocarnivores in the temperate forests of Southwest China. PLoS ONE 11(10):e0164271.
CALENGE, C. 2006. The package adehabitat for the R software: a tool for the analysis of space and habitat use by animals. Ecological Modelling 197:516–519.
CARO, T. M., AND C. J. STONER. 2003. The potential for interspecific competition among African carnivores. Biological Conservation 110:67–75.
CASE, T. J., AND M. E. GILPIN. 1974. Interference competition and niche theory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 71:3073–3077.
CHAMBERLAIN, M. J., AND B. D. LEOPOLD. 2000. Spatial use patterns, seasonal habitat selection, and interactions among adult gray foxes in Mississippi. The Journal of Wildlife Management 64:742–751.
CHAMBERLAIN, M. J., AND B. D. LEOPOLD. 2005. Overlap in space use among bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans) and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). The American Midland Naturalist 153:171–179.
CHAMBERLAIN, M. J., C. D. LOVELL, AND B. D. LEOPOLD. 2000. Spatial-use patterns, movements, and interactions among adult coyotes in central Mississippi. Canadian Journal of Zoology 78:2087–2095.
CHIANG, P. J., K. J. C. PEI, M. R. VAUGHAN, AND C. F. LI. 2012. Niche relationships of carnivores in a subtropical primary forest in southern Taiwan. Zoological Studies 51:500–511.
CUERVO-ROBAYO, A. P., C. URETA, M. A. GÓMEZ-ALBORES, A. K. MENESES-MOSQUERA, O. TÉLLEZ-VALDÉS, AND E. MARTÍNEZ-MEYER. 2020. One hundred years of climate change in Mexico. PLoS ONE 15:e0209808.
DANNER, D. A., AND N. S. SMITH. 1980. Coyote home range, movement, and relative abundance near a cattle feedyard. The Journal of Wildlife Management 44:484–487.
DELIBES, M., L. HERNÁNDEZ, AND F. HIRALDO. 1989. Comparative food habits of three carnivores in western Sierra Madre, Mexico. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 54:107–110.
DONADIO, E., AND S. W. BUSKIRK. 2006. Diet, morphology, and interspecific killing in Carnivora. The American Naturalist 167:524–536.
ESS. 2010a. LOAS: Location of a signal. Ver. 4.0.3.8. Ecological Software Solutions. Santa Barbara, U.S.A.
ESS. 2010b. Biotas. Ver. 2.0a 3.8. Ecological Software Solutions. Santa Barbara, U.S.A.
FARÍAS, V., T. K. FULLER, AND R. M. SAUVAJOT. 2012. Activity and distribution of gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in southern California. The Southwestern Naturalist 57:176–181.
FEDRIANI, J. M., T. K. FULLER, R. M. SAUVAJOT, AND E. C. YORK. 2000. Competition and intraguild predation among three sympatric carnivores. Oecologia 125:258–270.
FRITZELL, E. K., AND K. J. HAROLDSON. 1982. Urocyon cinereoargenteus. Mammalian Species 189:1–8.
FULLER, T. K., AND B. L. CYPHER. 2004. Gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). Pp. 92–96, in Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan (Sillero-Zubiri, C., M. Hoffman, and D. W. Macdonald, eds.). IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland.
GADSDEN, H., AND P. REYES-CASTILLO. 1991. Caracteres del ambiente físico y biológico de la Reserva de la Biosfera “La Michilíaâ€, Durango, México. Folia Entomológica Mexicana 81:1–19.
GARCÍA, E. 2004. Modificaciones al sistema de clasificación climática de Köppen (para adaptarlo a las condiciones particulares de la República Mexicana), 5a ed. Publicación del Instituto de Geografía-Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Ciudad de México, México.
GESE, E. M., O. J. RONGSTAD, AND W. R. MYTTON. 1988. Home range and habitat use of coyotes in southeastern Colorado. The Journal of Wildlife Management 52:640–646.
GESE, E. M., T. E. STOTTS, AND S. GROTHE. 1996. Interactions between coyotes and red foxes in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Journal of Mammalogy 77:377–382.
GOMPPER, M. E., D. B. LESMEISTER, J. C. RAY, J. R. MALCOLM, AND R. KAYS. 2016. Differential habitat use or intraguild interactions: what structures a carnivore community? PLoS ONE 11:e0146055.
GONZÁLEZ-ELIZONDO, S., M. GONZÁLEZ-ELIZONDO, AND A. CORTÉS-ORTIZ. 1993. Vegetación de la Reserva de la Biosfera La Michilía, Durango, México. Acta Botánica Mexicana 22:1–104.
GOSSELINK, T. E., T. R. VAN DEELEN, R. E. WARNER, AND M. G. JOSELYN. 2003. Temporal habitat partitioning and spatial use of coyotes and red foxes in east-central Illinois. The Journal of Wildlife Management 67:90–103.
GRASSEL, S. M., J. L. RACHLOW, AND C. J. WILLIAMS. 2015. Spatial interactions between sympatric carnivores: asymmetric avoidance of an intraguild predator. Ecology and Evolution 5:2762–2773.
HALFFTER, G. 1978. Las Reservas de la Biosfera en el estado de Durango: una nueva política de conservación y estudio de los recursos bióticos. Pp. 17–43, in Reservas de la biosfera en el estado de Durango (Halffter, G., ed.). Instituto de Ecología A. C. Veracruz, México.
HAMPTON, S. E. 2004. Habitat overlap of enemies: temporal patterns and the role of spatial complexity. Oecologia 138:475–484.
HAROLDSON, K. J., AND E. K. FRITZELL. 1984. Home ranges, activity, and habitat use by gray foxes in an oak-hickory forest. The Journal of Wildlife Management 48:222–227.
HARRISON, D. J., J. A. BISSONETTE, AND J. A. SHERBURNE. 1989. Spatial relationships between coyotes and red foxes in Eastern Maine. The Journal of Wildlife Management 53:181–185.
HOLT, R. D., AND G. A. POLIS. 1997. A theoretical framework for intraguild predation. The American Naturalist 149:745–764.
HOLT, R. D. 2001. Species coexistence. Encyclopedia of biodiversity 5:413–426.
HOLZMAN, S., M. J. CONROY, AND J. PICKERING. 1992. Home range, movements, and habitat use of coyotes in southcentral Georgia. The Journal of Wildlife Management 56:139–146.
HUNTER, J., AND T. CARO. 2008. Interspecific competition and predation in American carnivore families. Ethology Ecology and Evolution 20:295–324.
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTADÍSTICA Y GEOGRAFÍA (INEGI). 2017. Anuario estadístico y geográfico de Durango 2017. Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía. Aguascalientes, México.
JOHNSON, D. H. 1980. The comparison of usage and availability measurements for evaluating resource preference. Ecology 61:65–71.
KITCHEN, A. M., E.M. GESE, AND E. R. SCHAUSTER. 1999. Resource partitioning between coyotes and swift foxes: space, time, and diet. Canadian Journal of Zoology 77:1645–1656.
KOZLOWSKI, A. J., E. M. GESE, AND W. M. ARJO. 2008. Niche overlap and resource partitioning between sympatric kit foxes and coyotes in the Great Basin Desert of Western Utah. The American Midland Naturalist 160:191–208.
KOZLOWSKI, A. J., E. M. GESE, AND W. M. ARJO. 2012. Effects of intraguild predation: evaluating resource competition between two canid species with apparent niche separation. International Journal of Ecology 2012:1–12.
KREEGER, T., AND J. ARNEMO. 2018. Handbook of wildlife chemical immobilization. 5th ed. Published by authors. Laramie, U.S.A.
LAUNDRÉ, J. W., AND B. L. KELLER. 1984. Home-range size of coyotes: a critical review. The Journal of Wildlife Management 48:127–139.
LINNELL, J. D., AND O. STRAND. 2000. Interference interactions, coexistence and conservation of mammalian carnivores. Diversity and Distributions 6:169–176.
LONSINGER, R. C., E. M. GESE, L. L. BAILEY, AND L. P. WAITS. 2017. The roles of habitat and intraguild predation by coyotes on the spatial dynamics of kit foxes. Ecosphere 8:e01749.
LÖWENBERG-NETO, P. 2014. Neotropical region: a shapefile of Morrone’s (2014) biogeographical regionalisation. Zootaxa 3802:300–300.
MACARTHUR, R., AND R. LEVINS. 1967. The limiting similarity, convergence, and divergence of coexisting species. The American Naturalist 101:377–385.
MACDONALD, D. W., AND C. SILLERO-ZUBIRI. 2004. Dramatis personae. Wild canids-an introduction and dramatis personae. Pp. 27–28, in Biology and conservation of wild canids (Macdonald, D. W., and C. Sillero-Zubiri, eds.). Oxford University Press. New York, U.S.A.
MANLY B. F J., L. L. MCDONALD, D. L. THOMAS, T. L. MCDONALD, AND W. P. ERICKSON. 2004. Resource selection by animals: statistical design and analysis for field studies. 2nd ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers. London, England.
MECH, L. D. 1983. Handbook of animal radio-tracking. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, U.S.A.
MELVILLE, H. I. A. S., W. C. CONWAY, M. L. MORRISON, C. E. COMER, AND J. B. HARDIN. 2015. Home-range interactions of three sympatric mesopredators in east Texas. Canadian Journal of Zoology 93:547–557.
MILLSPAUGH, J. J., AND J. M. MARZLUFF. 2001. Radio tracking and animal populations. Academic Press. San Diego, U.S.A.
MOEHRENSCHLAGER, A., AND M. A. SOVADA. 2004. Swift fox (Vulpes velox). Pp. 109–116, in Canids: foxes, wolves, jackals, and dogs. Status survey and conservation action plan (Sillero-Zubiri, C., M. Hoffman, and D. W. Macdonald, eds.). IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland.
MOEHRENSCHLAGER, A., R. LIST, AND D. W. MACDONALD. 2007. Escaping intraguild predation: Mexican kit foxes survive while coyotes and golden eagles kill Canadian swift foxes. Journal of Mammalogy 88:1029–1039.
MORIN, P. 1999. Community Ecology. Blackwell Science. Malden, U.S.A.
MORRONE, J. J. 2014. Biogeographical regionalisation of the Neotropical region. Zootaxa 3782:1–110.
MUELLER, M. A., D. DRAKE, AND M. L. ALLEN. 2018. Coexistence of coyotes (Canis latrans) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) in an urban landscape. PLoS ONE 13:e0190971.
NEALE, J. C. C., AND B. N. SACKS. 2001. Food habits and space use of gray foxes in relation to sympatric coyotes and bobcats. Canadian Journal of Zoology 79:1794–1800.
NELSON, J. L., B. L. CYPHER, C. D. BJURLIN, AND S. CREEL. 2007. Effects of habitat on competition between kit foxes and coyotes. The Journal of Wildlife Management 71:1467–1475.
PALOMARES, F., AND T. M. CARO. 1999. Interspecific killing among mammalian carnivores. The American Naturalist 153:492–508.
PALOMARES, F., N. FERNÁNDEZ, S. ROQUES, C. CHÁVEZ, L. SILVEIRA, C. KELLER, AND B. ADRADOS. 2016. Fine-scale habitat segregation between two ecologically similar top predators. PLOS ONE 11:e0155626.
PIANKA, E. R. 1969. Sympatry of desert lizards (Ctenotus) in Western Australia. Ecology 50:1012–1030.
PIANKA, E. R. 1973. The structure of lizard communities. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 4:53–74.
POLIS, G. A., C. A. MYERS, AND R. D. HOLT. 1989. The ecology and evolution of intraguild predation: potential competitors that eat each other. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 20:297–330.
POWELL, R. A. 2000. Animal home ranges and territories and home range estimators. Pp. 65–110, in Research techniques in animal ecology-controversies and consequences (Boitani, L., and T. K. Fuller, eds.). Columbia University Press. New York, U.S.A.
R CORE TEAM. 2019. R: A language and environment for statistical computing v4.0.1. R Foundation for Statistical Computing. Vienna, Austria.
ROSENHEIM, J. A. 2004. Top predators constrain the habitat selection games played by intermediate predators and their prey. Israel Journal of Zoology 50:129–138.
SANKAR, K., H. A. PABLA, C. K. PATIL, P. NIGAM, Q. QURESHI, B. NAVANEETHAN, M. MANJREAKER, P. S. VIRKAR, AND K. MONDAL. 2013. Home range, habitat use and food habits of re-introduced gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus) in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Central India. Tropical Conservation Science 6:50–69.
SARGEANT, A. B., S. H. ALLEN AND J. O. HASTINGS. 1987. Spatial relations between sympatric coyotes and red foxes in North Dakota. The Journal of Wildlife Management 51:285–293.
SARGEANT, A. B., AND S. H. ALLEN. 1989. Observed interactions between coyotes and red foxes. Journal of Mammalogy 70:631–633.
SCHOENER, T. W. 1974. Resource partitioning in ecological communities. Science 185:27–39.
SERVÍN, J. 2000. Ecología conductual del coyote en el sureste de Durango. Tesis de Doctorado. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
SERVÍN, J., AND C. HUXLEY. 1991. La dieta del coyote en un bosque de encino-pino de la Sierra Madre Occidental de Durango, México. Acta Zoológica Mexicana 44:1–26.
SERVÍN, J., AND C. HUXLEY. 1992. Immobilization of wild carnivores using the ketamine and xylazine mixture. Veterinaria México 23:195–139.
SERVÍN, J., AND C. HUXLEY. 1995. Coyote home range size in Durango, Mexico. Zeitschrift für Säugetierkunde 60:119–120.
SERVÍN, J., AND E. CHACÓN. 2014. Gray fox. Pp. 514–515, in Mammals of México (Ceballos, G., ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, U.S.A.
SERVÍN, J., E. CHACÓN, AND R. LIST. 2014a. Coyote. Pp. 510–511, in Mammals of México (Ceballos, G., ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. Baltimore, U.S.A.
SERVÍN, J., A. BEJARANO, N. ALONSO-PÉREZ, AND E. CHACÓN. 2014b. El tamaño del ámbito hogareño y el uso de hábitat de la zorra gris (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) en un bosque templado de Durango, México. Therya 5:257–269.
SERVÍN, J., V. SÁNCHEZ-CORDERO, AND S. GALLINA. 2003. Daily travel distances of coyotes (Canis latrans) in a temperate forest of Durango, Mexico. Journal of Mammalogy 84:547–552.
SIKES, R. S. 2016. 2016 Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the use of wild mammals in research and education. Journal of Mammalogy 97:663–688.
SOKAL, R. R., AND F. J. ROHLF. 1987. Introduction to Biostatistics. Second edition. W. H. Freeman and Co. San Francisco, U.S.A.
SOTO, C., AND F. PALOMARES. 2015. Coexistence of sympatric carnivores in relatively homogeneous Mediterranean landscapes: functional importance of habitat segregation at the fine-scale level. Oecologia 179:223–235.
TEMPLE, D. L., M. J. CHAMBERLAIN, AND L. M. CONNER. 2010. Spatial ecology, survival and cause-specific mortality of gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in a longleaf pine ecosystem. The American Midland Naturalist 163:413–422.
THEBERGE, J. B., AND C. H. R. WEDELES. 1989. Prey selection and habitat partitioning in sympatric coyote and red fox populations, southwest Yukon. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67:1285–1290.
TILMAN, D. 1982. Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press. Princeton, U.S.A.
TRAPP, G. R., AND D. L. HALLBERG. 1975. Ecology of the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus): a review. Pp. 164–178, in The wild canids (Fox, M. W., ed.). Van Nostrand Reinhold. New York, U.S.A.
VIOTA, M., A. RODRÍGUEZ, J. V. LÓPEZ-BAO, AND F. PALOMARES. 2012. Shift in microhabitat use as a mechanism allowing the coexistence of victim and killer carnivore predators. Open Journal of Ecology 2012 2:115–120.
VOIGT, D. R., AND B. D. EARLE. 1983. Avoidance of coyotes by red fox families. The Journal of Wildlife Management 47:852–857.
WHITE, P. J., K. RALLS, AND R. A. GARROTT. 1994. Coyote-kit fox interactions as revealed by telemetry. Canadian Journal of Zoology 72:1831–1836.
WHITE, P. J., K. RALLS, AND C. A. V. WHITE. 1995. Overlap in habitat and food use between coyotes and San Joaquin kit foxes. The Southwestern Naturalist 40:342–349.
WHITE, G. C., AND R. A. GARROTT. 1990. Analysis of wildlife radio-tracking data. Academic Press. New York, U.S.A.
XIA, J., F. WU, W. Z. HU, J. L. FANG, AND X. J. YANG. 2015. The coexistence of seven sympatric fulvettas in Ailao Mountains, Ejia Town, Yunnan Province. Zoological Research 36:18–28.
YOUNG, J. K., W. F. ANDELT, P. A. TERLETZKY, AND J. A. SHIVIK. 2006. A comparison of coyote ecology after 25 years: 1978 versus 2003. Canadian Journal of Zoology 84:573–582.
Published
Issue
Section
License
THERYA is based on its open access policy allowing free download of the complete contents of the magazine in digital format. It also authorizes the author to place the article in the format published by the magazine on your personal website, or in an open access repository, distribute copies of the article published in electronic or printed format that the author deems appropriate, and reuse part or whole article in own articles or future books, giving the corresponding credits.
