Interference competition between coyotes and raccoons: a test of the mesopredator release hypothesis

By S. Gehrt, S. Prange. 2007

112 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Some predator species appear to conform to the mesopredator release hypothesis (MRH), in which larger predators help limit populations of smaller predators. This hypothesis has been used to explain the possible relationship between coyotes, mesopredators, and resultant cascades involving nonpredators. However, relationships between coyotes and noncanid mesopredators are poorly understood, and predictions from the MRH have rarely been rigorously tested. We monitored sympatric raccoon and coyote populations to assess 2 predictions derived from the MRH: coyote predation is an important cause of mortality in raccoon populations or raccoons avoid areas used by coyotes. Between March 2000 and September 2001, we recorded 3553 locations for 27 radio-collared raccoons and 1393 locations for 13 coyotes captured on the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation in Illinois, USA. No raccoon mortality from coyote predation was observed during the study, and raccoon survival was >0.7 each season. All raccoon 95% home ranges exhibited overlap with 95% coyote home ranges in each season. The mean proportion of raccoon locations within 95% coyote home ranges did not vary by sex but did vary by season. Raccoon overlap of coyote core areas varied considerably among individuals within seasons, ranging from 0% to 83%. However, 45% of raccoons had 50% overlap. Mean overlap with core areas did not vary by season or sex. For those raccoons with home ranges overlapping coyote core areas, mean proportion of observed raccoon locations within coyote core areas was generally greater than the mean proportion of random locations. Scent-station experiments failed to document raccoon avoidance of specific sites that had been marked with coyote urine. We did not find support for a mortality prediction or avoidance prediction to support MRH with regard to raccoons and coyotes. These results suggest that relationships among mammalian predators may not be simply dictated by body size, particularly for species outside the Canidae. Copyright 2007.

Subfields: Ecology, Genetics, Small Animals

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/37decccd466ea033215f5c8e81e319c5b63fb092

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Citations in the corpus

Behavioural interference between ungulate species: roe are not on velvet with fallow deer (2011, background): “Conversely, species frequently show overlap in the use of resources (Putman 1996; Eckardt and Zuberbühler 2003; Gehrt and Prange 2006).”
Spatial and Temporal Structure of a Mesocarnivore Guild in Midwestern North America (2015, background): “However, the effect that close c mpetitors of different sizes have on each other involves a whole suite of spatial, temporal, and other components more difficult to quantify than simple linear hierarchy based on body size, prey size, and dominance (King 1989, Gehrt and Prange 2007).”
Large carnivore impacts are context-dependent (2017, background): “…Species assemblage Vulnerability and interactions between predators may be influenced by niche overlap and relatedness (Berger and Gese 2007; Gehrt and Prange 2007; Ritchie and Johnson 2009), but also by species specific factors such as defence or grouping behaviour (Cooper 1991; Palomares…”
Mesopredator spatial and temporal responses to large predators and human development in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California (2015, background): “In areas where puma occupancies declined, we expected coyotes would act as an emergent apex predator and negatively affect the occupancy and detection of smaller mesopredators (Gehrt and Prange, 2007; Levi and Wilmers, 2012; Pace et al., 1999).”
The Rise of the Mesopredator (2009, background): “Although several studies found no evidence of mesopredator release following apex predator declines (e.g., Wright et al. 1994, Gehrt and Prange 2007), the weight of evi dence suggests that mesopredator release is a common result of apex predator loss throughout the world.”
Big city life: carnivores in urban environments (2012, background): “Gehrt and colleagues (Gehrt & Prange, 2007; Gehrt, Anchor & White, 2009; Gehrt, 2011) refer to urban coyotes forming packs and suggest that, although coyotes prefer to hunt alone, they form packs to defend territories, with roughly half of all urban coyotes living in territorial packs that consist…”