Do Snow-Adapted Prey Facilitate Coexistence of the Sierra Nevada Red Fox With Sympatric Carnivores?

ABSTRACT: Specialist species in alpine ecosystems may be increasingly threatened by climate-driven habitat loss and encroachment by generalist competitors. Ecological theory predicts that niche differentiation through dietary specialisation can facilitate coexistence with generalist competitors. We quantified dietary overlap between a high-elevation specialist, the Sierra Nevada red fox (SNRF; Vulpes vulpes necator) and a widespread generalist, the coyote (Canis latrans), as well as other sympatric carnivores. We were especially interested in dietary items that were themselves specialised to alpine habitats, as we expected them to be most critical to SNRF. To characterise diet, we used DNA metabarcoding for vertebrate and plant-based food items of 789 carnivore scats collected from the sites of two

SUBMITTER: Rosburg-Francot G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12530287 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature