Leopard distribution and abundance is unaffected by interference competition with lions

Competition can have profound impacts on the structure and function of ecological communities. Despite this, the population-level effects of intraguild competition on large carnivores remain largely unknown, due to a paucity of long-term studies that focus simultaneously on competing species. Here, we comprehensively examine competitive interactions, including their demographic consequences, between 2 top predators, lions Panthera leo and leopards P. pardus. We tested the hypothesis that lions, as the dominant competitor, limit the distribution and abundance of leopards, using dietary, spatial, and life-history data collected concurrently on the 2 species. Dietary overlap between lions and leopards was limited, with lions targeting large- to very large-sized prey and leopards small- to medium-sized prey. Leopards did not actively avoid lions, either predictively or reactively, except in riparian woodland where the likelihood of encountering lions was highest. Lions accounted for more th...竞争可对生态群落的结构与功能产生深远影响。尽管如此，由于同时聚焦竞争物种的长期研究较为匮乏，集团内竞争（intraguild competition）对大型食肉动物的种群级效应在很大程度上仍未明确。本研究全面检视了两种顶级捕食者——狮（Panthera leo）与豹（Panthera pardus）之间的竞争互动，包括其种群统计后果。我们通过同时收集的两种物种的食性、空间分布及生活史数据，验证了“作为优势竞争者的狮会限制豹的分布与种群丰度”这一假说。研究发现，狮与豹的食性重叠程度有限：狮的猎物以大型至超大型个体为主，而豹则以小型至中型猎物为主。除了遭遇狮的概率最高的河岸林地外，豹并未主动规避狮，无论是预判性还是反应性的规避。狮的捕食占比超过……