Energy development and consumption drive changes in global climate, landscapes, and biodiversity. The oil sands of western Canada are an epicenter of oil production, creating landscapes without ...current or historical analogs. Science and policy often focus on pipelines and species-at-risk declines, but we hypothesized that differential responses to anthropogenic disturbances shift the entire mammal community. Analysis of data collected from 3 years of camera trapping and species distribution models indicated that anthropogenic features best explained the distributions of the ten mammal species included in the study. Relative abundances of some mammals were positively correlated with anthropogenic feature density, and others were negatively correlated. Effect sizes were often larger than for natural features. Increasing anthropogenic spatial complexity, access to multiple habitats, and new forage sources favor generalist predators and browsers, to the detriment of specialists, likely altering ecological processes. This issue has far-reaching implications: as the oil sands landscape changes so too does its mammal community, serving as a bellwether of future change for energy landscapes worldwide.
1. Reliable assessment of animal populations is a long-standing challenge in wildlife ecology. Technological advances have led to widespread adoption of camera traps (CTs) to survey wildlife ...distribution, abundance and behaviour. As for any wildlife survey method, camera trapping must contend with sources of sampling error such as imperfect detection. Early applications focused on density estimation of naturally marked species, but there is growing interest in broad-scale CT surveys of unmarked populations and communities. Nevertheless, inferences based on detection indices are controversial, and the suitability of alternatives such as occupancy estimation is debatable. 2. We reviewed 266 CT studies published between 2008 and 2013. We recorded study objectives and methodologies, evaluating the consistency of CT protocols and sampling designs, the extent to which CT surveys considered sampling error, and the linkages between analytical assumptions and species ecology. 3. Nearly two-thirds of studies surveyed more than one species, and a majority used response variables that ignored imperfect detection (e.g. presence-absence, relative abundance). Many studies used opportunistic sampling and did not explicitly report details of sampling design and camera deployment that could affect conclusions. 4. Most studies estimating density used capture-recapture methods on marked species, with spatially explicit methods becoming more prominent. Few studies estimated density for unmarked species, focusing instead on occupancy modelling or measures of relative abundance. While occupancy studies estimated detectability, most did not explicitly define key components of the modelling framework (e.g. a site) or discuss potential violations of model assumptions (e.g. site closure). Studies using relative abundance relied on assumptions of equal detectability, and most did not explicitly define expected relationships between measured responses and underlying ecological processes (e.g. animal abundance and movement). 5. Synthesis and applications. The rapid adoption of camera traps represents an exciting transition in wildlife survey methodology. We remain optimistic about the technology's promise, but call for more explicit consideration of underlying processes of animal abundance, movement and detection by cameras, including more thorough reporting of methodological details and assumptions. Such transparency will facilitate efforts to evaluate and improve the reliability of camera trap surveys, ultimately leading to stronger inferences and helping to meet modern needs for effective ecological inquiry and biodiversity monitoring.
Landscape change alters species' distributions, and understanding these changes is a key ecological and conservation goal. Species-habitat relationships are often modelled in the absence of syntopic ...species, but niche theory and emerging empirical research suggests heterospecifics should entrain (and statistically explain) variability in distribution, perhaps synergistically by interacting with landscape features.
We examined the effects of syntopic species in boreal mammals' relationship to landscape change, using three years of camera-trap data in the western Nearctic boreal forest. Using an information-theoretic framework, we weighed evidence for additive and interactive variables measuring heterospecifics' co-occurrence in species distribution models built on natural and anthropogenic landscape features. We competed multiple hypotheses about the roles of natural features, anthropogenic features, predators, competitors, and species-habitat interaction terms in explaining relative abundance of carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores/scavengers.
For most species, models including heterospecifics explained occurrence frequency better than landscape features alone. Dominant predator (wolf) occurrence was best explained by prey, while prey species were explained by apparent competitors and subdominant predators. Evidence for interactions between landscape features and heterospecifics was strong for coyotes and wolves but variable for other species.
Boreal mammals' spatial distribution is a function of heterospecific co-occurrence as well as landscape features, with synergistic effects observed for most species. Understanding species' responses to anthropogenic landscape change thus requires a multi-taxa approach that incorporates interspecific relationships, enabling better inference into underlying processes from observed patterns.
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•Mammals' response to anthropogenic landscape change depends on co-occurring species.•Prey response to disturbance is exacerbated by co-occurring predators, and vice versa.•Landscape disturbance and syntopic species operate synergistically for many mammals.•Consequences of landscape change are contextual with the biotic community.
Camera trapping has consequently spread across the global south and developing countries (Agha et al., 2018; Cremonesi et al., 2021; Galindo-Aguilar et al., 2022). Many private citizens run their own ...camera traps; networking observations from these citizen scientists have yielded great insights and will continue to do so (McShea et al., 2016). ...though camera trapping has largely been used for mammals, it is expanding taxonomically to include vegetation communities (Seyednasrollah et al., 2019; Sun et al., 2021), herptiles (Moore et al., 2020; Welbourne et al., 2020), and avifauna (Jachowski et al., 2015; Murphy et al., 2018).
In seasonal environments, the ability of mustelid species to acquire carrion-a dietary resource heavily depended upon-is driven by a collection local habitat characteristics and competition dynamics. ...In resource-scarce winter, sympatric mesocarnivores must balance energetic rewards of carrion with avoiding antagonistic interactions with conspecifics. We examined scavenging interactions among three mustelid species in the northern Canadian Rocky Mountains. Camera traps (n = 59) were baited with carrion during winter between 2006 to 2008. Spatial and temporal dimensions of scavenger behaviour (i.e., carcass use) were evaluated using a multi-model approach, which enabled us to recognize potentially adaptive behavioural mechanisms for mitigating competition at carcass sites. Best performing models indicated that carrion site use is governed by a combination of competition threats and environmental factors. A decrease in scavenging with increasing snow depth was observed across all species. Mustelids adopted a host of adaptive behavioural strategies to access shared scavenging opportunities. We found evidence that wolverine (Gulo gulo) and American marten (Martes americana) segregate in space but temporally tracked one another. Short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea) scavenging decreased with greater site use by marten. Carcass availability across a spatially complex environment, as well as spatial-temporal avoidance strategies, can facilitate carrion resource partitioning.
Time‐stamped camera data are increasingly used to study temporal patterns in species and community ecology, including species’ activity patterns and niche partitioning. Given the importance of niche ...partitioning for facilitating coexistence between sympatric species, understanding how emerging environmental stressors – climate and landscape change, biodiversity loss and concomitant changes to community composition – affect temporal niche partitioning is of immediate importance for advancing ecological theory and informing management decisions. A large variety of analytical approaches have been applied to camera‐trap data to ask key questions about species activity patterns and temporal overlap among heterospecifics. Despite the many advances for describing and quantifying these temporal patterns, few studies have explicitly tested how interacting biotic and abiotic variables influence species’ activity and capacity to segregate along the temporal niche axis. To address this gap, we suggest coordinated distributed experiments to capture sufficient camera‐trap data across a range of anthropogenic stressors and community compositions. This will facilitate a standardized approach to assessing the impacts of multiple variables on species’ behaviours and interactions. Ultimately, further integration of spatial and temporal analyses of camera‐trap data is critical for improving our understanding of how anthropogenic activities and landscape changes are altering competitive interactions and the dynamics of animal communities.
Within the last decade, camera‐trap data have been increasingly used to study species activity patterns and niche partitioning, as well as a large variety of methods to analyse the data. This review outlines the questions that may be asked from camera‐trap data regarding species activities, temporal niche partitioning and the abiotic and biotic variables which may influence species behaviours and interactions, and highlights those approaches where gains have been best made in improving our understanding of such processes. We also explore the future directions where our understanding of the combined spatiotemporal aspects of species niche partitioning and responses to emerging environmental stressors (e.g. climate and landscape changes, biodiversity loss, changes to community composition) can best be advanced.
Landscape change is a driver of global biodiversity loss. In the western Nearctic, petroleum exploration and extraction is a major contributor to landscape change, with concomitant effects on large ...mammal populations. One of those effects is the continued expansion of invasive white‐tailed deer populations into the boreal forest, with ramifications for the whole ecosystem. We explored deer resource selection within the oil sands region of the boreal forest using a novel application of aerial ungulate survey (AUS) data. Deer locations from AUS were “used” points and together with randomly allocated “available” points informed deer resource selection in relation to landscape variables in the boreal forest. We created a candidate set of generalized linear models representing competing hypotheses about the role of natural landscape features, forest harvesting, cultivation, roads, and petroleum features. We ranked these in an information‐theoretic framework. A combination of natural and anthropogenic landscape features best explained deer resource selection. Deer strongly selected seismic lines and other linear features associated with petroleum exploration and extraction, likely as movement corridors and resource subsidies. Forest harvesting and cultivation, important contributors to expansion in other parts of the white‐tailed deer range, were not as important here. Stemming deer expansion to conserve native ungulates and maintain key predator–prey processes will likely require landscape management to restore the widespread linear features crossing the vast oil sands region.
Land modified for human use alters matrix shape and composition and is a leading contributor to global biodiversity loss. It can also play a key role in facilitating range expansion and ecosystem ...invasion by anthrophilic species, as it can alter food abundance and distribution while also influencing predation risk; the relative roles of these processes are key to habitat selection theory. We researched these relative influences by examining human footprint, natural habitat, and predator occurrence on seasonal habitat selection by range-expanding boreal white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in the oil sands of western Canada. We hypothesized that polygonal industrial features (e.g. cutblocks, well sites) drive deer distributions as sources of early seral forage, while linear features (e.g. roads, trails, and seismic lines) and habitat associated with predators are avoided by deer. We developed seasonal 2nd -order resource selection models from three years of deer GPS-telemetry data, a camera-trap-based model of predator occurrence, and landscape spatial data to weigh evidence for six competing hypotheses. Deer habitat selection was best explained by the combination of polygonal and linear features, intact deciduous forest, and wolf (Canis lupus) occurrence. Deer strongly selected for linear features such as roads and trails, despite a potential increased risk of wolf encounters. Linear features may attract deer by providing high density forage opportunity in heavily exploited landscapes, facilitating expansion into the boreal north.
Countries committed to implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity's 2011-2020 strategic plan need effective tools to monitor global trends in biodiversity. Remote cameras are a rapidly ...growing technology that has great potential to transform global monitoring for terrestrial biodiversity and can be an important contributor to the call for measuring Essential Biodiversity Variables. Recent advances in camera technology and methods enable researchers to estimate changes in abundance and distribution for entire communities of animals and to identify global drivers of biodiversity trends. We suggest that interconnected networks of remote cameras will soon monitor biodiversity at a global scale, help answer pressing ecological questions, and guide conservation policy. This global network will require greater collaboration among remote-camera studies and citizen scientists, including standardized metadata, shared protocols, and security measures to protect records about sensitive species. With modest investment in infrastructure, and continued innovation, synthesis, and collaboration, we envision a global network of remote cameras that not only provides real-time biodiversity data but also serves to connect people with nature.
Climate and landscape change are drivers of species range shifts and biodiversity loss; understanding how they facilitate and sustain invasions has been empirically challenging. Winter severity is ...decreasing with climate change and is a predicted mechanism of contemporary and future range shifts. For example, white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) expansion is a continental phenomenon across the Nearctic with ecological consequences for entire biotic communities. We capitalized on recent temporal variation in winter severity to examine spatial and temporal dynamics of invasive deer distribution in the Nearctic boreal forest. We hypothesized deer distribution would decrease in severe winters reflecting historical climate constraints, and remain more static in moderate winters reflecting recent climate. Further, we predicted that regardless of winter severity, deer distribution would persist and be best explained by early seral forage subsidies from extensive landscape change via resource extraction. We applied dynamic occupancy models in time, and species distribution models in space, to data from 62 camera traps sampled over 3 years in northeastern Alberta, Canada. Deer distribution shrank more markedly in severe winters but rebounded each spring regardless of winter severity. Deer distribution was best explained by anthropogenic landscape features assumed to provide early seral vegetation subsidy, accounting for natural landcover. We conclude that deer dynamics in the northern boreal forest are influenced both by landscape change across space and winter severity through time, the latter expected to further decrease with climate change. We contend that the combined influence of these two drivers is likely pervasive for many species, with changing resources offsetting or augmenting physiological limitations.
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