Interspecific carnivore competition and ungulate predation correlate with predator species richness.

ABSTRACT: Competition for resources underlies the development of ecological community structure and function. Niche compression occurs when species reduce resource use due to competition, and niche complementarity posits resource competition should occur sequentially among habitat, time, and food. Within this context, interspecific predator competition can be influenced by prey characteristics and landscape attributes. We examined drivers of interspecific competition among carnivores using a database of North American ungulate cause-specific mortality published during 1970-2021. We used weighted logit-linked beta-binomial generalized linear mixed models to assess the influence of seven predator species, ungulate age class, and landscape characteristics (i.e., human footprint, terrain ruggedness, and

SUBMITTER: Wehr NH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12174753 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature