There is need of information on ecological interactions that keystone species such as apex predators establish in ecosystems recently recolonised. Interactions among carnivore species have the potential to influence community-level processes, with consequences for ecosystem dynamics. Although avoidance of apex predators by smaller carnivores has been reported, there is increasing evidence that the potential for competitive-to-facilitative interactions is context-dependent. In a protected area recently recolonised by the wolf Canis lupus and hosting abundant wild prey (3 ungulate species, 20–30 individuals/km2, together), we used 5-year food habit analyses and 3-year camera trapping to (i) investigate the role of mesocarnivores (4 species) in the wolf diet; (ii) test for temporal, spatial, and fine-scale spatiotemporal association between mesocarnivores and the wolf. Wolf diet was dominated by large herbivores (86% occurrences, N = 2201 scats), with mesocarnivores occurring in 2% scats. We collected 12,808 carnivore detections over > 19,000 camera trapping days. We found substantial (i.e., generally ≥ 0.75, 0–1 scale) temporal overlap between mesocarnivores—in particular red fox—and the wolf, with no support for negative temporal or spatial associations between mesocarnivore and wolf detection rates. All the species were nocturnal/crepuscular and results suggested a minor role of human activity in modifying interspecific spatiotemporal partitioning. Results suggest that the local great availability of large prey to wolves limited negative interactions towards smaller carnivores, thus reducing the potential for spatiotemporal avoidance. Our study emphasises that avoidance patterns leading to substantial spatiotemporal partitioning are not ubiquitous in carnivore guilds.

中文翻译：

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食肉动物物种之间的相互作用：地中海保护区顶级捕食者和较小食肉动物之间的有限时空划分


需要有关顶级捕食者等关键物种在最近重新定居的生态系统中建立的生态相互作用的信息。食肉动物物种之间的相互作用有可能影响群落层面的过程，从而对生态系统动态产生影响。尽管有报道称小型食肉动物会避开顶级捕食者，但越来越多的证据表明，竞争性与促进性相互作用的潜力取决于环境。在最近被狼 Canis lupus 重新占领并栖息着丰富野生猎物（3 种有蹄类动物，共 20-30 只/平方公里）的保护区中，我们使用了 5 年的食物习惯分析和 3 年的相机陷阱来 (i) 调查中食肉动物（4种）在狼饮食中的作用； (ii) 测试中食肉动物和狼之间的时间、空间和精细时空关联。狼的饮食主要是大型食草动物（86% 的发生率，N = 2201 粪便），中型食肉动物占 2% 的粪便。我们在 > 19,000 个相机捕捉日内收集了 12,808 个食肉动物检测结果。我们发现中食肉动物（特别是红狐）和狼之间存在大量（即通常≥ 0.75，0-1尺度）时间重叠，但不支持中食肉动物和狼检测率之间的负时间或空间关联。所有物种都是夜间/黄昏活动的，结果表明人类活动在改变种间时空划分方面发挥的作用较小。结果表明，狼在当地大量获得大型猎物，限制了狼对小型食肉动物的负面相互作用，从而降低了时空回避的可能性。我们的研究强调，导致大量时空划分的回避模式在食肉动物行会中并不普遍存在。