Rainfall reduces the potential for competitive suppression of a globally endangered ungulate by livestock

Protected areas often are too small to house populations of wide-ranging species. Viability of wildlife populations therefore depends on whether interactions with humans and their land uses are negative, neutral, or positive. In central Iran, we measured interactions between globally endangered onagers (Equus hemionus onager) and livestock by analyzing remotely-sensed vegetation metrics within livestock grazing areas, tracking 9 animals with GPS telemetry, and assessing onagers' diet quality through analysis of fecal samples. Resource selection by onagers depended both on the season and the presence of livestock. During the dry season, livestock reduced forage (some combination of forage biomass and forage quality) compared to pre-grazing periods, demonstrating the potential for competitive suppression of onagers by livestock when resources are scarce. Additionally, during both seasons, selection for forage by onagers was accentuated at night when livestock were absent, indicating onage..., , , The Onager_RSF.csv represents habitat covariates of used (denoted by column ‘case’ equal to TRUE) and available points (denoted by column ‘case’ equal to FALSE) by onager (Equus hemionus onager) during 2017 and 2018 detailed in Esmaeili et al. 2024. The dataset is organized based on a resource selection function framework, and can be analyzed using weighted logistic regression models with each individual as random intercept and slope following the methods described in the associated publication. Column headings exactly match the variables described in the associated publication in Biological Conservation.

Below is a description of the data contained in each column:

* id: a unique identifier for each of 9 collared animals.
* case: determines if the point was used (TRUE) or available (FALSE).
* MSAVI and dist_water: values of MSAVI (representing vegetation primary productivity or greenness) and Euclidean distance to water extracted at each used and available points. The MSAVI valu...