Assessing Relationships Between Predator and Prey Distributions in the Central Volcanic Cordillera Region of Central Costa Rica
Additional Funding Sources
This project is supported by a 2019-2020 STEM Undergraduate Research Grant from the Higher Education Research Council.
Abstract
Predators are a focus of conservation efforts, especially in the tropics, where there are high levels of disturbance on the landscape. Prey availability plays an important role in predator abundance, and predator-prey relationships are extremely complex. Pumas (Puma concolor) and jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest mammalian predators in Central America and have been the focus of range-wide conservation efforts promoting habitat connectivity. In Costa Rica, the Central Volcanic Cordillera Jaguar Conservation Unit (CVC JCU) is a critical link for connectivity within Costa Rica and from Panama into Nicaragua. This region has experienced disturbance and has low densities of felid predators and their prey. We evaluated potential predator-prey relationships between species distributions via camera trapping and hypothesized that prey distributions would serve as a predictor of puma distributions in the CVC JCU area. Prey occupancy was modeled using four main covariates: forest cover, minimum distances to roads and towns, and the Human Footprint Index. We then modeled puma occupancy and included prey occupancies. We found that puma occupancy was best predicted by rabbit occupancy, minimum distance to roads, and red-brocket deer occupancy. Predicted puma occupancy ranged from 0.003 (std.error=0.01) to 0.602 (std.error=0.27), was positively correlated to rabbit occupancy, and was negatively correlated to minimum distance to road and deer occupancy.
Assessing Relationships Between Predator and Prey Distributions in the Central Volcanic Cordillera Region of Central Costa Rica
Predators are a focus of conservation efforts, especially in the tropics, where there are high levels of disturbance on the landscape. Prey availability plays an important role in predator abundance, and predator-prey relationships are extremely complex. Pumas (Puma concolor) and jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest mammalian predators in Central America and have been the focus of range-wide conservation efforts promoting habitat connectivity. In Costa Rica, the Central Volcanic Cordillera Jaguar Conservation Unit (CVC JCU) is a critical link for connectivity within Costa Rica and from Panama into Nicaragua. This region has experienced disturbance and has low densities of felid predators and their prey. We evaluated potential predator-prey relationships between species distributions via camera trapping and hypothesized that prey distributions would serve as a predictor of puma distributions in the CVC JCU area. Prey occupancy was modeled using four main covariates: forest cover, minimum distances to roads and towns, and the Human Footprint Index. We then modeled puma occupancy and included prey occupancies. We found that puma occupancy was best predicted by rabbit occupancy, minimum distance to roads, and red-brocket deer occupancy. Predicted puma occupancy ranged from 0.003 (std.error=0.01) to 0.602 (std.error=0.27), was positively correlated to rabbit occupancy, and was negatively correlated to minimum distance to road and deer occupancy.