DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3r2280gpc
title: Native forest and proximity to humans are stronger drivers of Brazilian cottontail habitat use than invasive European hare

description: Human activities and biological invasions have caused unprecedented
 biodiversity loss over the past 500 years. Proximity to humans drives the
 spatial distribution of species toward less disturbed habitats. Invasive
 species can competitively exclude native species, but species may coexist
 due to different habitat preferences. Here, we investigated how proximity
 to farms and the presence of the non-native European hare (Lepus
 europaeus) influence the habitat use by the Brazilian cottontail
 (Sylvilagus minensis) in southeastern Brazil. We found that the
 probability of cottontail site use increased with native forest cover and
 decreased with farmhouse proximity, ranging from 0.05 (SE = 0.02) at sites
 close to farmhouses (≅ 900 m) with no native forest to 0.70 (SE = 0.15) at
 sites far from farmhouses (≅ 2500 m) dominated by native forest. Higher
 risk of harassment and predation by free-roaming dogs and cats may explain
 the negative effect of farmhouse proximity on cottontail habitat use. We
 found little evidence for competitive exclusion by the European hare.
 Instead, our results suggest that the two species spatially segregate due
 to different habitat preferences. While the European hare more likely uses
 farmland in its native and non-native range, our results suggest that the
 Brazilian cottontail is a forest dweller. Although we found only weak
 evidence of competitive exclusion, we advise caution because invasive
 species may delay the onset of detrimental effects due to initial low
 population densities in newly invaded areas as is the case of the European
 hare in southeastern Brazil.
description: # Native forest and proximity to humans are stronger drivers of Brazilian
 cottontail habitat use than invasive European hare
 Brazilian cottontail
 (*Sylvilagus minensis*) detection obtained in 205 sites located in
 southeastern Brazil and covariates used to model species habitat use and
 detection probabilities. This dataset was obtained after sampling each
 site with a camera trap and a 200-m transect. ## Description of the data
 and file structure The dataset (.inp file) has 209 lines. The heading
 (non-readable information placed within /* */) is stored in the first four
 lines. The remaining 205 lines represent each sampled site. The line of
 each site starts with site name (e.g., / * JES - B11 */), followed by
 species detection (0) or non-detection (1) in each of the eight sampling
 occasions, a dummy covariate describing sampling months (from April to
 September), and all covariates used to model the Brazilian cottontail
 habitat use and detection probabilities. Each sampling month was defined
 as a group in Mark. Covariates presented in the .inp file have the
 following names and measurement units: Sug = Sugarcane (%); ManF = Managed
 Forest (%); Past = Pastures (%); NatF = Native Forest (%); Sav = Savanna
 (%); StrD = Stream Density (m/ha); FED = native Forest Edge Density
 (m/ha); FDist = Farmhouse Distance (m); H = European hare conditional
 occupancy probability (n/a); Rainf = Rainfall (mm); MinTemp = Daily
 Minimum Temperature (°C); Y = year (n/a); CT_pos = Camera-trap Position
 (n/a); CT_eff = Camera-trap Effort (camera days). The 'n/a'
 means not applied, used for dimensionless covariates. ## Code/Software
 Occupancy analyses were performed in program Mark 9.0 (White &
 Burnham, 1999; )