Mesocarnivore sensitivity to natural and anthropogenic disturbance leads to declines in occurrence and concern for species persistence.

ABSTRACT: Understanding mesocarnivore responses to both natural and anthropogenic disturbance is crucial for understanding species' potential to maintain landscape persistence into the future. We examined the response of five mesocarnivore species (bobcat, coyote, fisher, gray fox, and red fox) to both types of disturbances and climatic conditions. The Northeastern U.S. has experienced multiple large-scale disturbances, such as a mass defoliation event following larval spongy moth outbreak and high densities of infrastructure that divide the natural landcover into roadless zones where these species inhabit. Using dynamic occupancy models in a Bayesian framework, we aimed to (1) examine variation in species' responses over a 4-year study by estimating variation in site-level occupancy, colonization a

SUBMITTER: Ganoe LS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11260557 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature