Boreal predator co-occurrences reveal shared use of seismic lines in a working landscape

Interspecific interactions are an integral aspect of ecosystem functioning
that may be disrupted in an increasingly anthropocentric world. Industrial
landscape change creates a novel playing field on which these interactions
take place, and a key question for wildlife managers is whether and how
species are able to coexist in such working landscapes. Using camera traps
deployed in northern Alberta, we surveyed boreal predators to determine
whether interspecific interactions affected occurrences of black bears
(Ursus americanus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and lynx (Lynx canadensis)
within a landscape disturbed by networks of seismic lines (corridors cut
for seismic exploration of oil and gas reserves). We tested hypotheses of
species interactions across one spatial-only and two spatiotemporal (daily
and weekly) scales. Specifically, we hypothesized that 1) predators avoid
competition with the apex predator, grey wolf (Canis lupus), 2) they avoid
competition with each other as intraguild competitors, and 3) they overlap
with their prey. All three predators overlapped with wolves on at least
one scale, although models at the daily and weekly scale had substantial
unexplained variance. None of the predators showed avoidance of intraguild
competitors or overlap with prey. These results show patterns in predator
space use that are consistent with both facilitative interactions or
shared responses to unmeasured ecological cues. Our study provides insight
into how industrial linear features affect the use of boreal landscapes by
multiple predator species, and highlights that predator management may
indirectly influence multiple species through interactions.