Affiliation:
1. Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA
2. Wildlife Conservation Initiative Arusha Tanzania
3. Department of Biology University of Dayton Dayton Ohio USA
4. Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Trent University Peterborough Ontario Canada
Abstract
AbstractSpecies interactions can influence species distributions, but mechanisms mitigating competition or facilitating positive interactions between ecologically similar species are often poorly understood. Aardwolves (Proteles cristata) and aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are nocturnal, insectivorous mammals that co‐occur in eastern and southern Africa, and knowledge of these species is largely limited to their nutritional biology. We used aardwolf and aardvark detections from 105 remote cameras during 2016–2018 to assess their spatial and temporal niche overlap in the grasslands of Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. Using a multispecies occupancy model, we identified a positive interaction between occupancy probabilities for aardwolves and aardvarks. Slope, proportion of grassland and termite mound density did not affect the occupancy probabilities of either species. The probability of aardwolf, but not aardvark, occupancy increased with distance to permanent water sources, which may relate to predation risk avoidance. Diel activity overlap between aardwolves and aardvarks was high during wet and dry seasons, with both species being largely nocturnal. Aardwolves and aardvarks have an important ecological role as termite consumers, and aardvarks are suggested to be ecosystem engineers. Our results contribute to a better understanding of the spatial and temporal niche of insectivores like aardwolves and aardvarks, suggesting high spatial and temporal niche overlap in which commensalism occurs, whereby aardwolves benefit from aardvark presence through increased food accessibility.
Funder
Safari Club International Foundation
Subject
Nature and Landscape Conservation,Ecology,Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics