Prey tracking and predator avoidance in a Neotropical moist forest: a camera-trapping approach.

ABSTRACT: Whether prey species avoid predators and predator species track prey is a poorly understood aspect of predator-prey interactions, given measuring prey tracking by predators and predator avoidance by prey is challenging. A common approach to study these interactions among mammals in field situations is to monitor the spatial proximity of animals at fixed times, using GPS tags fitted to individuals. However, this method is invasive and only allows tracking of a subset of individuals. Here, we use an alternative, noninvasive camera-trapping approach to monitor temporal proximity of predator and prey animals. We deployed camera traps at fixed locations on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, where the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is the principal mammalian predator, and tested two hypotheses:

SUBMITTER: Swinkels C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10107427 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature