Data from: Assessing springtime vertebrate prey of sympatric mesopredators in the southeastern United States using metabarcoding analysis

Coyotes (Canis latrans) colonized the eastern United States over the last
century and formed a 3-species predator guild with bobcats (Lynx rufus)
and gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) across much of the southeastern
United States. Diets among the three species vary along with respective
impacts on game species such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)
and wild turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo). To determine predation impacts on
vertebrate prey and dietary overlap in consumption of prey items, we
assessed diets of coyote, bobcat, and gray fox during spring, coinciding
with white-tailed deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing.
We sampled across three sites along the Savannah River in South Carolina
from mid-May through mid-June of 2020-2021. We collected 180 scat samples
along 295.9 kilometers (71.1 – 122.4 km/site) of unpaved secondary roads
and used DNA metabarcoding to determine vertebrate diet items. We
identified predator species of scat using DNA metabarcoding and
species-specific mtDNA fragment analysis (153 were coyotes, 20 bobcats,
and seven gray foxes). Overall, we found evidence that two species, coyote
and bobcat, consumed deer while all three consumed turkeys. The frequency
of deer in the diet varied across sites for coyotes from 62 – 86% and wild
turkey was present with a frequency of occurrence of 9% for coyotes, 5%
for bobcats, and 14% for gray fox. Vertebrate diet specialization was
evident across predator species with a high frequency of deer in coyote
diets, rabbits and small mammals in bobcat diets, and herpetofauna in gray
fox diets. During deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing,
dietary overlap appears to be mediated by the disparate selection of prey
items, which reduced competition among coyotes, bobcats, and gray foxes.
The use of DNA metabarcoding may augment our understanding of dietary
preferences within this predator guild by providing increased resolution
of diet composition among important game species.