Dynamic shifts in predator diel activity patterns across landscapes and threat levels

Understanding the constraints dominant predators impose on subordinate species is important for predicting ecosystem dynamics and anticipating outcomes of predator management. Subordinate predators may avoid dominant predators in time or space, making it difficult to quantify antipredator behaviours unless joint spatiotemporal analyses are used. Here, we tested whether an invasive dominant predator (red fox Vulpes vulpes) alters the spatiotemporal activity of an invasive subordinate predator (feral cat Felis catus). We collated records of both species from 3,667 camera-traps deployed experimentally across two regions of south-eastern Australia with simplified predator guilds. Foxes were poison-baited in some landscapes within each region. We used generalised additive models to quantify changes in predator spatiotemporal activity across geographic space, vegetation types, human footprint and (artificially manipulated) gradients of dominant predator activity. Foxes and cats had similar di...