Analysis
Observations of spatial and temporal activity patterns can potentially
provide insights into predator-prey relationships as animals perceive
their environment through time and space (Hut, Kronfeld-Schor, van der
Vinne, & De la Iglesia, 2012). Because species interactions are often
complex and difficult to identify we used photographic data to examine
temporal overlap at nest platforms among tree voles and four other taxa
that were potential predators. We classified these potential nest
predators as flying squirrels, owls, weasels, or probing/digging birds.
For each nest predator we created detection/non-detection encounter
histories by binning data at 1-hour, 1-day, or 1-week time bin-widths,
creating logistic regression models at each bin-width that represented
predator-prey temporal overlap. We also constructed monthly encounter
histories (1-month bin-width) to quantify multi-annual trends of
activity at nest platforms.