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Abstract Resource specialist herbivores may suppress antipredator strategies to access scarcely available key resources, while proactive antipredator behaviors should be favored by generalists or when resources are abundant. We quantified the relative effects of predation‐ (top‐down) and resource‐driven (bottom‐up) constraints on spatiotemporal patterns of landscape use by a prey community in a dynamic system under low predator abundance, and investigated how prey manage the risk posed by predators with different hunting strategies. We fitted Royle–Nichols co‐abundance models to camera‐trapping data collected between 2017 and 2019 in Bicuar National Park (Angola), to assess spatial association/segregation across predator–prey dyads, while accounting for the effects of water and food availability during dry and wet seasons. We further estimated pairwise seasonal differences in diel activity overlap between predator and prey. We failed to detect spatiotemporal proactive antipredator responses either toward the cursorial or ambush predator. The community‐wide predator–prey association patterns we found support that predation pressure is insufficient to displace prey from their preferred habitats or to adjust their endogenous clock, and support predominantly bottom‐up regulated behaviors. We suggest that, in landscapes where predator density is low, limited perception of risk may prevent the employment of proactive antipredator behavior.

Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa is under-represented in global biodiversity datasets, particularly regarding the impact of land use on species’ population abundances. Drawing on recent advances in expert elicitation to ensure data consistency, 200 experts were convened using a modified-Delphi process to estimate ‘intactness scores’: the remaining proportion of an ‘intact’ reference population of a species group in a particular land use, on a scale from 0 (no remaining individuals) to 1 (same abundance as the reference) and, in rare cases, to 2 (populations that thrive in human-modified landscapes). The resulting bii4africa dataset contains intactness scores representing terrestrial vertebrates (tetrapods: ±5,400 amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals) and vascular plants (±45,000 forbs, graminoids, trees, shrubs) in sub-Saharan Africa across the region’s major land uses (urban, cropland, rangeland, plantation, protected, etc.) and intensities (e.g., large-scale vs smallholder cropland). This dataset was co-produced as part of the Biodiversity Intactness Index for Africa Project. Additional uses include assessing ecosystem condition; rectifying geographic/taxonomic biases in global biodiversity indicators and maps; and informing the Red List of Ecosystems.

Preserving natural genetic diversity and ecological function of wild species is a central goal in conservation biology. As such, anthropogenic hybridization is considered a threat to wild populations, as it can lead to changes in the genetic makeup of wild species and even to the extinction of wild genomes. In European wildcats, the genetic and ecological impacts of gene flow from domestic cats are mostly unknown at the species scale. However, in small and isolated populations, it is known to include genetic swamping of wild genomes. In this context, it is crucial to better understand the dynamics of hybridization across the species range, to inform and implement management measures that maintain the genetic diversity and integrity of the European wildcat. In the present paper, we aim to provide an overview of the current scientific understanding of anthropogenic hybridization in European wildcats, to clarify important aspects regarding the evaluation of hybridization given the available methodologies, and to propose guidelines for management and research priorities.

Abstract Population size is one of the basic demographic parameters for species management and conservation. Among different estimation methods, spatially explicit capture–recapture (SCR) models allow the estimation of population density in a framework that has been greatly developed in recent years. The use of automated detection devices, such as camera traps, has impressively extended SCR studies for individually identifiable species. However, its application to unmarked/partially marked species remains challenging, and no specific method has been widely used. We fitted an SCR‐integrated model (SCR‐IM) to stone marten Martes foina data, a species for which only some individuals are individually recognizable by natural marks, and estimate population size based on integration of three submodels: (1) individual capture histories from live capture and transponder tagging; (2) detection/nondetection or “occupancy” data using camera traps in a bigger area to extend the geographic scope of capture–recapture data; and (3) telemetry data from a set of tagged individuals. We estimated a stone marten density of 0.352 (SD: 0.081) individuals/km2. We simulated four dilution scenarios of occupancy data to study the variation in the coefficient of variation in population size estimates. We also used simulations with similar characteristics as the stone marten case study, comparing the accuracy and precision obtained from SCR‐IM and SCR, to understand how submodels' integration affects the posterior distributions of estimated parameters. Based on our simulations, we found that population size estimates using SCR‐IM are more accurate and precise. In our stone marten case study, the SCR‐IM density estimation increased the precision by 37% when compared to the standard SCR model as regards to the coefficient of variation. This model has high potential to be used for species in which individual recognition by natural markings is not possible, therefore limiting the need to rely on invasive sampling procedures.

Genomic tools have greatly enhanced our ability to uncover ancient interspecific gene flow, including cases involving allopatric lineages and/or lineages that have gone extinct. Recently, a genomic analysis revealed the unexpected gene flow between the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) and the dhole (Cuon alpinus). The two species have currently highly disjunct and patchy distributions in Africa and Asia, respectively, which are remnants of a much wider past distribution. Yet, no reported evidence of their past contact has ever been documented. By hindcasting the past potential distribution of both species during the Last Glacial Maximum and the Last Interglacial, validating paleoclimatic reconstructions with fossil evidence, quantifying the intersection of their bioclimatic niches, and assessing interspecific compatibility, we investigate the location and favorable conditions for such contact and its ecological validity. We were able to identify the Levant region in Eastern Mediterranean during the Last Interglacial as the most suitable spatio-ecological context for the co-occurrence of the two canids, and to provide evidence of a highly significant overlap of the African wild dog niche with the wider niche of the dhole. These results, combined with ecologic traits, including key compatibility features such as cooperative breeding and hunting, provide consistent support for the potential co-occurrence of both canids. We suggest that the ranges of these canids came into contact multiple times during periods resembling the Last Interglacial, eventually facilitating gene flow between the African wild dog and the dhole in their post-divergence history. Our results are highly supportive of the key role of the Levant region in providing connectivity between African and Eurasian faunas and provide further impetus to combine different tools and approaches in advancing the understanding of species evolutionary histories.

Knowledge on interference competition between species, particularly for scarce crucial resources, such as water, is a topic of increasing relevance for wildlife management given climate change scenarios. This study focuses on two sympatric canids, the African wolf and the side-striped jackal, to evaluate their group size and spatiotemporal activity patterns in the use of a limited resource by monitoring artificial waterholes in a semi-arid environment located in Senegal (West Africa). Remote cameras were deployed at five artificial waterholes to evaluate the number of individuals, age and activity patterns of resource use. African wolves (n = 71; 31% of all carnivore detections) and side-striped jackals (n = 104; 45%) were the most detected carnivore species. While both canids tended to occur alone at waterholes, they showed an evident monthly variation in group size. Both species showed a high activity overlap, with a bimodal activity pattern in waterhole use. However, we found evidence of unidirectional spatiotemporal avoidance, suggesting African wolves might be dominant over side-striped jackals. Our findings provide useful insights to investigate niche partitioning on the use of limited resources and have conservation implications for regions with a prolonged dry season.