2021/03/15 by Ferrall, Jacob, Malamud-Roam, Lucy, Ramirez, Roxana +1
#latrines #middens #niche partitioni #scat distribution #small mammals
paper · doi:10.21973/n3g660
Species that occupy similar ecological niches rely on niche partitioning to avoid direct competition. Our study aimed to detect niche partitioning between four abundant small mammal species residing in the Eastern Mojave Desert. By varying resource usage over space and time, the desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), the blacktailed jackrabbit (Lepus californicus), the desert woodrat (Neotoma lepida), and the white-tailed antelope squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) are able to coexist along the mountains’ ridge. We investigated their niche partitioning through a scat distribution survey. We found evidence for spatial niche partitioning between jackrabbits and squirrels, and temporal niche partitioning between woodrats and cottontails. Jackrabbits and squirrels never defecated near each other, indicating a spatial difference. Cottontails scat piles increased in abundance around larger middens and were most often in closest proximity to that of woodrats, sometimes in latrines, revealing that they share the same area but avoid direct competition through temporal niche partitioning. Our study supplements understanding of how small desert mammals subsist with each other given limited resources.