High Overlap in Niches and Suitable Habitat Between an Imperiled and Introduced Cottontail.

ABSTRACT: When introduced species invade new environments, they often overlap with native species currently occupying those spaces, either spatially through suitable habitat or environmentally through their realized niches. The goal of this research is to determine the overlap between native New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis) and introduced eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) to identify potential areas of invasion by the eastern cottontail and potential areas of refuge for the New England cottontail from the eastern cottontail (Connecticut, USA). Using presence data from a regional, standardized monitoring protocol, we developed habitat suitability models using Maxent and conducted niche overlap analyses using environmental principal component analysis. We used

SUBMITTER: Bischoff KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11917141 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature