Niche partitioning by sympatric civets in the Himalayan foothills of Pakistan.

ABSTRACT: Niche overlap between sympatric species can indicate the extent of interspecific competition. Sympatric competing species can exhibit spatial, temporal, and dietary adjustments to reduce competition. We investigated spatial, temporal, and dietary niche overlap of sympatric Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) and small Indian civet ( Viverricula indica), in and around Pir Lasura National Park, Pakistan. We used remote cameras to determine the frequency and timing of detections to estimate spatial and temporal overlap, and prey remains from scats to estimate dietary overlap. We collected scat samples of Asian palm civet (n = 108) and small Indian civet (n = 44) for dietary analysis. We found low spatial (O_ij = 0.32) and temporal

SUBMITTER: Akrim F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9951805 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature