Spatio-temporal coexistence of sympatric mesocarnivores with a single apex carnivore in a fine-scale landscape

Mesocarnivores uniquely and profoundly impact ecosystem function, structure, and dynamics. Sympatric species tend to spatially and temporally partition limited resources to facilitate coexistence. We investigated the seasonal spatial and temporal cooccurrences among six mesocarnivores, the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Asian badger (Meles leucurus), Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica), masked palm civet (Paguma larvata) and yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula), as well as a single apex predator (Northern Chinese leopard, Panthera pardus japonensis). We used a camera trapping dataset collected from June 2016 to May 2017 (16,636 camera trapping days, 52 camera locations). The activity patterns varied among seasons and species. Most species were most active during summer. Leopards were most active in winter. Siberian weasels and yellow-throated martens were mainly diurnal, tended to spatially avoid each other, and were temporally segregated from the other mesocarnivores. Leopard cats, Asian badgers, red foxes and masked palm civets were nocturnal and showed high overlap in every season, but their highest peaks of activity were staggered. Mesocarnivores may be affected by the threat of the apex carnivore; they mainly avoided leopards spatially, showing low spatial overlap with leopards in all seasons. Interestingly, we found that the animals may engage in temporal-spatial coordination to facilitate coexistence, as increased temporal overlap in a given season was associated with decreased spatial overlap. Our results provide new insight into the carnivore community of terrestrial mammals in northern China and will facilitate future studies on the mechanisms determining the coexistence of animal species within the trophic cascade.