Year: 2021
Type: article
Abstract: The simultaneous occurrence of two or more species in space and time (coexistence) is the initial condition for interspecific interactions. One example is the little known binomial of Urocyon cinereoargenteus and Spilogale angustifrons. Our objective is to contribute information on the coexistence of these mesocarnivores in Komchén de los Pájaros, in the north of Yucatán, an area covered by low deciduous tropical forest. We placed eight camera traps from 23 December 2019 to 20 June 2020 in eight sampling stations. We depicted the daily activity patterns using an hourly circular diagram based on the frequency of camera-trap records. We obtained 68 camera-trap records with a sampling effort of 4,320 trap-hours over 180 days, with three corresponding to the coexistence of U. cinereoargenteus and S. angustifrons. The activity of U. cinereoargenteus occurred all day during the dry season. The relative abundance index of the coexistence of S. angustifrons and U. cinereoargenteus was 0.7 and for U. cinereoargenteus alone was 15.74. We recorded the synchronized activity of U. cinereoargenteus and S. angustifrons on three occasions. These events occurred at night, early morning hours, and dawn, which confirmed the coexistence of both species in space (low deciduous tropical forest) and time (dry season). The photographic records showed no antagonistic events and the fact that one species followed the other suggests mutualism. We confirmed the coexistence based on the follow-up behavior of U. cinereoargenteus by S. angustifrons, and believe that these two species are mutualist in the dry season and in the low deciduous tropical forest.
Source: Therya notes
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W3173333337