Movement ecology of jaguars and predator-prey interactions.
Abstract
Jaguars (Panthera onca) are the largest felids in America, mainly
threatened by habitat and prey density loss and hunting. Jaguars are
mainly nocturnal predators that need large portions of suitable habitat
with abundant prey populations. The aim of this work was to assess both
jaguar and prey activity patterns, their relations and to understand if
the presence/absence of prey and their activity patterns might determine
the movements of jaguars in a spatio-temporal frame. We used data from
camera trapping records of 125 jaguar events of presence from 9,360
camera trap days effort and data from five jaguars with GPS collars, to
analyze: 1) Activity patterns; 2) Speed movement; 3) Traveled distances
and 4) Co-occurrence for jaguars and preys. Differences between sexes
and between seasons were also evaluated. A total of 12,566 segments of
movement were recorded. Two activity peaks were identified between
07:00-08:00 and 22:00-23:00 hours. Average traveled distance was 265.66
m/h (± 390.98 m/h). The maximum hourly distance was 2,760.25 m/h; with
significant differences considering the hour of day (χ2 = 324.51, df 11,
p < 0.001), with higher mean values between 00:00 and 08:00 h.
The average distance covered by males was higher than females
(Z –24.827, p < 0.001): 341.64 ± 440.03 m/h and 146.31 ±
259.04 m/h respectively. Significant differences considering seasons
were found (Z = –16.442, p < 0.001): average distance during
the dry season was 230.35 ± 365.87 m/h and was higher during the rainy
season: 337.082 ± 430.45 m/h. Differences according to season were also
consistent considering males and females separately (males: Z = –6.212,
p < 0.001; females: Z = –15.801, p < 0.001).
Occupation model analysis revealed that two of the five pairs of species
(P. onca and P. tajacu and P. onca and C. paca) occur with more
frequency than if they were independent, while in terms of co-detection,
P. onca and P. tajacu and P. onca and C. paca showed independence