Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China
Carnivores play key roles in maintaining ecosystem structure and function as well as ecological processes. Understanding how sympatric species coexist in natural ecosystems is a central research topic in community ecology and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we explored intra- and interspec...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.90559.3 https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/90559/elife-90559-v1.pdf https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/90559/elife-90559-v1.xml https://elifesciences.org/articles/90559 |
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crelifesciences:10.7554/elife.90559.3 2024-09-30T14:33:35+00:00 Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China Cong, Wei Li, Jia Hacker, Charlotte Li, Ye Zhang, Yu Jin, Lixiao Zhang, Yi Li, Diqiang Xue, Yadong Zhang, Yuguang National Natural Science Foundation of China National Natural Science Foundation of China Welfare Project of the National Scientific Research Institution 2024 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.90559.3 https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/90559/elife-90559-v1.pdf https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/90559/elife-90559-v1.xml https://elifesciences.org/articles/90559 en eng eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ eLife volume 13 ISSN 2050-084X journal-article 2024 crelifesciences https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.90559.3 2024-09-17T04:53:14Z Carnivores play key roles in maintaining ecosystem structure and function as well as ecological processes. Understanding how sympatric species coexist in natural ecosystems is a central research topic in community ecology and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we explored intra- and interspecific niche partitioning along spatial, temporal, and dietary niche partitioning between apex carnivores (wolf Canis lupus , snow leopard Panthera uncia , Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx ) and mesocarnivores (Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul , red fox Vulpes vulpes , Tibetan fox Vulpes ferrilata ) in Qilian Mountain National Park, China, using camera trapping data and DNA metabarcoding sequencing data. Our study showed that apex carnivore species had more overlap temporally (coefficients of interspecific overlap ranging from 0.661 to 0.900) or trophically (Pianka’s index ranging from 0.458 to 0.892), mesocarnivore species had high dietary overlap with each other (Pianka’s index ranging from 0.945 to 0.997), and apex carnivore and mesocarnivore species had high temporal overlap (coefficients of interspecific overlap ranging from 0.497 to 0.855). Large dietary overlap was observed between wolf and snow leopard (Pianka’s index = 0.892) and Pallas’s cat and Tibetan fox (Pianka’s index = 0.997), suggesting the potential for increased resource competition for these species pairs. We concluded that spatial niche partitioning is likely to key driver in facilitating the coexistence of apex carnivore species, while spatial and temporal niche partitioning likely facilitate the coexistence of mesocarnivore species, and spatial and dietary niche partitioning facilitate the coexistence between apex and mesocarnivore species. Our findings consider partitioning across temporal, spatial, and dietary dimensions while examining diverse coexistence patterns of carnivore species in Qilian Mountain National Park, China. These findings will contribute substantially to current understanding of carnivore guilds and effective conservation management in ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx eLife eLife 13 |
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eLife |
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crelifesciences |
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English |
description |
Carnivores play key roles in maintaining ecosystem structure and function as well as ecological processes. Understanding how sympatric species coexist in natural ecosystems is a central research topic in community ecology and biodiversity conservation. In this study, we explored intra- and interspecific niche partitioning along spatial, temporal, and dietary niche partitioning between apex carnivores (wolf Canis lupus , snow leopard Panthera uncia , Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx ) and mesocarnivores (Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul , red fox Vulpes vulpes , Tibetan fox Vulpes ferrilata ) in Qilian Mountain National Park, China, using camera trapping data and DNA metabarcoding sequencing data. Our study showed that apex carnivore species had more overlap temporally (coefficients of interspecific overlap ranging from 0.661 to 0.900) or trophically (Pianka’s index ranging from 0.458 to 0.892), mesocarnivore species had high dietary overlap with each other (Pianka’s index ranging from 0.945 to 0.997), and apex carnivore and mesocarnivore species had high temporal overlap (coefficients of interspecific overlap ranging from 0.497 to 0.855). Large dietary overlap was observed between wolf and snow leopard (Pianka’s index = 0.892) and Pallas’s cat and Tibetan fox (Pianka’s index = 0.997), suggesting the potential for increased resource competition for these species pairs. We concluded that spatial niche partitioning is likely to key driver in facilitating the coexistence of apex carnivore species, while spatial and temporal niche partitioning likely facilitate the coexistence of mesocarnivore species, and spatial and dietary niche partitioning facilitate the coexistence between apex and mesocarnivore species. Our findings consider partitioning across temporal, spatial, and dietary dimensions while examining diverse coexistence patterns of carnivore species in Qilian Mountain National Park, China. These findings will contribute substantially to current understanding of carnivore guilds and effective conservation management in ... |
author2 |
National Natural Science Foundation of China National Natural Science Foundation of China Welfare Project of the National Scientific Research Institution |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Cong, Wei Li, Jia Hacker, Charlotte Li, Ye Zhang, Yu Jin, Lixiao Zhang, Yi Li, Diqiang Xue, Yadong Zhang, Yuguang |
spellingShingle |
Cong, Wei Li, Jia Hacker, Charlotte Li, Ye Zhang, Yu Jin, Lixiao Zhang, Yi Li, Diqiang Xue, Yadong Zhang, Yuguang Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China |
author_facet |
Cong, Wei Li, Jia Hacker, Charlotte Li, Ye Zhang, Yu Jin, Lixiao Zhang, Yi Li, Diqiang Xue, Yadong Zhang, Yuguang |
author_sort |
Cong, Wei |
title |
Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China |
title_short |
Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China |
title_full |
Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China |
title_fullStr |
Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China |
title_full_unstemmed |
Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China |
title_sort |
different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in qilian mountain national park, china |
publisher |
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.90559.3 https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/90559/elife-90559-v1.pdf https://cdn.elifesciences.org/articles/90559/elife-90559-v1.xml https://elifesciences.org/articles/90559 |
genre |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_source |
eLife volume 13 ISSN 2050-084X |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7554/elife.90559.3 |
container_title |
eLife |
container_volume |
13 |
_version_ |
1811637429304557568 |