DOI: 10.5061/dryad.hx3ffbg9x
title: Boreal predator co-occurrences reveal shared use of seismic lines in a working landscape

description: Interspecific interactions are an integral aspect of ecosystem functioning
 that may be disrupted in an increasingly anthropocentric world. Industrial
 landscape change creates a novel playing field on which these interactions
 take place, and a key question for wildlife managers is whether and how
 species are able to coexist in such working landscapes. Using camera traps
 deployed in northern Alberta, we surveyed boreal predators to determine
 whether interspecific interactions affected occurrences of black bears
 (Ursus americanus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and lynx (Lynx canadensis)
 within a landscape disturbed by networks of seismic lines (corridors cut
 for seismic exploration of oil and gas reserves). We tested hypotheses of
 species interactions across one spatial-only and two spatiotemporal (daily
 and weekly) scales. Specifically, we hypothesized that 1) predators avoid
 competition with the apex predator, grey wolf (Canis lupus), 2) they avoid
 competition with each other as intraguild competitors, and 3) they overlap
 with their prey. All three predators overlapped with wolves on at least
 one scale, although models at the daily and weekly scale had substantial
 unexplained variance. None of the predators showed avoidance of intraguild
 competitors or overlap with prey. These results show patterns in predator
 space use that are consistent with both facilitative interactions or
 shared responses to unmeasured ecological cues. Our study provides insight
 into how industrial linear features affect the use of boreal landscapes by
 multiple predator species, and highlights that predator management may
 indirectly influence multiple species through interactions.
description: Methods can be found in Tattersall, E. R., Burgar, J. M., Fisher,
 J. T., Burton, A. C. (2020), Boreal predator co-occurrences
 reveal shared use of seismic lines in a working
 landscape. <em>Ecology and
 Evolution</em>
description: The data consists of mammal detection data collected from 60
 camera trap stations on the east side of the Athabasca River, southwest of
 Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. Between November 2015 - April 2018, we
 recorded detections for wolves (<em>Canis lupus</em>), black
 bears (<em>Ursus americanus</em>), coyotes (<em>Canis
 latrans</em>), Canada lynx <em>(Lynx
 canadensis), </em>snowshoe hare (<em>Lepus
 americanus</em>), red squirrels (<em>Tamiasciurus
 hudsonicus</em>), moose (<em>Alces alces</em>),
 white-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus virginianus</em>), and
 woodland caribou (<em>Rangifer tarandus</em>). We formatted
 these data as species detections at each station, as well as species
 occurrences at the weekly and daily temporal scale. We also used snow
 presence data from the camera traps, habitat data from the Alberta
 Vegetation  (Alberta Vegetation Interpretation Standards, 2005), and
 anthropogenic feature data from Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute
 (abmi.ca). Tattersall et al. (2020) used these data to test hypotheses of
 species interactions while accounting for effects of snow, habitat, and
 anthropogenic disturbance.