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Conservation requires both a needs assessment and prioritization scheme for planning and implementation. Range maps are critical for understanding and conserving biodiversity, but current range maps often omit content, negating important metrics of variation in populations and places. Here, we integrate a myriad of conditions that are spatially explicit across distributions of carnivores to identify gaps in capacity necessary for their conservation. Expanding on traditional gap analyses that focus almost exclusively on quantifying discordance in protected area coverage across a species’ range, our work aggregates threat layers (e.g., drought, human pressures) with resources layers (e.g., protected areas, cultural diversity) to identify gaps in available conservation capacity (ACC) across ranges for 91 African carnivores. Our model indicated that all species have some portion of their range at risk of contraction, with an average of 15 percentage range loss. We found that the ACC differed based on body size and taxonomy. Results deviated from current perceptions of extinction risks for species with an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threat status of Least Concern and yielded insights for species categorized as Data Deficient. Our socio-ecological gap analysis presents a geospatial approach to inform decision-making and resource allocation in conservation. Ultimately, our work advances forecasting dynamics of species’ ranges that are increasingly vital in an era of great socio-ecological change to mitigate human–wildlife conflict and promote inclusive carnivore conservation across geographies.

Studies of elusive carnivores often rely on passive sampling when investigating either spatial or temporal interactions. However, inference on behavioral mechanisms are usually lacking. We present an analysis that combines previously published spatial co-occurrence estimates and temporal kernel density estimates to explore spatiotemporal interspecific interactions. We do so by deriving a spatiotemporal value (STV) that is a relative measure of potential interaction in both niche dimensions, across a gradient of degradation, for rainforest carnivore pairs in Madagascar. We also use a conceptual framework to provide insight into the potential behavioral mechanisms of habitat selection. Of the six native and three invasive carnivores, we estimate the spatiotemporal interactions for twelve pairings, which range from no spatial/temporal relationship (n = 5) to spatiotemporal aggregation or segregation (n = 7). We visualized these spatiotemporal interactions along a fragmentation gradient and demonstrate that these interactions are not static, as STV overlap increases with increasing anthropogenic disturbance. Of the three invasive carnivores (free-ranging dogs Canis familiaris, cats Felis species, and small Indian civets Viverricula indica) the latter had the highest number of spatial occurrence (n = 4) and spatiotemporal overlap (n = 4) relationships with native carnivores. Our results highlight the potential for increasing direct and indirect interactions between native and invasive species as forest degradation and invasive predators increase. Our approach allows us to better understand adaptive behaviors, plasticity in temporal activity, community assemblage, and to develop targeted conservation strategies to manage ecological communities in rapidly changing ecosystems.

Madagascar is a threatened global biodiversity hotspot and conservation priority, yet we lack broad-scale surveys to assess biodiversity across space and time. To fill this gap, we collated camera trap surveys, capturing species occurrences within Madagascar into a single standardized database. This data set includes nine distinct protected areas of Madagascar and encompasses 13 subprojects, 38 camera arrays, and 1156 sampling units (independent camera site per survey) within two important biodiversity eco-regions: western dry deciduous forest and eastern humid rainforest. Camera surveys were conducted from June 2007 to January 2021. The final data set includes 17 unique families of mammals (Bovidae, Canidae, Cheirogaleidae, Daubentoniidae, Equidae, Eupleridae, Felidae, Hominidae, Indriidae, Lemuridae, Lepilemuridae, Muridae, Nesomyidae, Pteropodidae, Soricidae, Suidae, Tenrecidae) comprising 45 species and 27 unique families of birds (Accipitridae, Acrocephalidae, Alcedinidae, Bernieridae, Brachypteraciidae, Caprimulgidae, Cisticolidae, Columbidae, Coraciidae, Corvidae, Cuculidae, Dicruridae, Mesitornithidae, Monarchidae, Motacillidae, Muscicapidae, Numididae, Phasianidae, Rallidae, Sarothruridae, Strigidae, Sturnidae, Sulidae, Threskiornithidae, Upupidae, Vangidae, Zosteropidae) comprising 58 species. Images were processed and verified by individual project data set creators and camera operation and species tables were then collated. The final product represents the first broad-scale freely available standardized formal faunal database for Madagascar. Data are available through this publication and at DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5801806. These data will be useful for examining species-level and community-level trends in occurrence across space or time within Madagascar and globally, evaluating native and invasive species dynamics, and will aid in determining species conservation status and planning for at-risk species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this paper when using the data for publication.

Current methods to model species habitat use through space and diel time are limited. Development of such models is critical when considering rapidly changing habitats where species are forced to adapt to anthropogenic change, often by shifting their diel activity across space. We use an occupancy modeling framework to develop a new model, the multi-state diel occupancy model (MSDOM), which can evaluate species diel activity against continuous response variables which may impact diel activity within and across seasons or years. We used two case studies, fosa in Madagascar and coyote in Chicago, USA, to conceptualize the application of this model and to quantify the impacts of human activity on species spatial use in diel time. We found support that both species varied their habitat use by diel states—in and across years, and by human disturbance. Our results exemplify the importance of understanding animal diel activity patterns and how human disturbance can lead to temporal habitat loss. The MSDOM will allow more focused attention in ecology and evolution studies on the importance of the short temporal scale of diel time in animal-habitat relationships and lead to improved habitat conservation and management.

March Mammal Madness is a science outreach project that, over the course of several weeks in March, reaches hundreds of thousands of people in the United States every year. We combine four approaches to science outreach – gamification, social media platforms, community event(s), and creative products – to run a simulated tournament in which 64 animals compete to become the tournament champion. While the encounters between the animals are hypothetical, the outcomes rely on empirical evidence from the scientific literature. Players select their favored combatants beforehand, and during the tournament scientists translate the academic literature into gripping “play-by-play” narration on social media. To date ~1100 scholarly works, covering almost 400 taxa, have been transformed into science stories. March Mammal Madness is most typically used by high-school educators teaching life sciences, and we estimate that our materials reached ~1% of high-school students in the United States in 2019. Here we document the intentional design, public engagement, and magnitude of reach of the project. We further explain how human psychological and cognitive adaptations for shared experiences, social learning, narrative, and imagery contribute to the widespread use of March Mammal Madness.

Perceived predation risk and the resulting antipredator behaviour varies across space, time and predator identity. Communities with multiple predators that interact and differ in their use of space, time of activity and hunting mode create a complex landscape for prey to avoid predation. Anthropogenic presence and disturbance have the potential to shift interactions among predators and prey and the where and when encounters occur. We examined how white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus fawn spatiotemporal antipredator behaviour differed along an anthropogenic disturbance gradient that had black bears Ursus americanus, coyotes Canis latrans, bobcats Lynx rufus and humans present. We quantified (a) spatial co-occurrence in species distributions, (b) temporal overlap across the diel cycle and (c) spatiotemporal associations between humans, bears, coyotes, bobcats, adult male deer and fawns. We also examined how deer vigilance behaviour changed across the anthropogenic disturbance gradient and survey duration. Anthropogenic disturbance influenced spatiotemporal co-occurrence across multiple scales, often increasing spatiotemporal overlap among species. In general, species' spatial co-occurrence was neutral or positive in anthropogenically disturbed environments. Bears and fawns, coyotes and adult male deer, and bobcats and fawns all had higher temporal overlap in the agriculture-development matrix sites. In addition, factors that influenced deer vigilance (e.g. distance to forest edge and predator relative abundance) in the agriculture-development matrix sites did not in the forest matrix site. By taking into account the different antipredator behaviours that can be detected and the different scales these behaviours might occur, we were able to gain a more comprehensive picture of how humans reduce available niche space for wildlife, creating the neutral and positive spatiotemporal associations between species that studies have been seeing in more disturbed areas.

SummaryCamera trap surveys are a non-invasive way to monitor wildlife populations. Although most often used to study medium- and large-sized mammals, camera traps also detect non-target species. These detections provide useful ecological information on little-known species, but such data usually remain unanalysed. We used detections from camera-trapping surveys of native carnivores and small mammals to examine distribution patterns and occupancy trends of little-known ground-dwelling rainforest birds at seven sites across the Masoala-Makira protected area complex in north-eastern Madagascar. We obtained 4,083 detections of 28 bird species over 18,056 trap nights from 200 to 2013. We estimated occupancy across the Masoala-Makira protected area complex (hereafter, landscape occupancy) and annual trends in occupancy at three resurveyed sites for five commonly observed species. Landscape occupancy across Masoala-Makira ranged from 0.75 (SE 0.09; Madagascar Magpie-robinCopsychus albospecularis) to 0.25 (SE 0.06; Scaly Ground-rollerGeobiastes squamiger). Ground-dwelling forest bird occupancy was similar at forest sites that ranged from intact to fully degraded; however, three species were detected less often at sites with high feral cat trap success. Nearly half of all focal species showed declines in annual occupancy probability at one resurveyed site (S02) from 2008 to 2013. The declines in ground-dwelling bird occupancy could have community-wide consequences as birds provide ecosystem services such as seed dispersal and pest regulation. We suggest immediate conservation measures—such as feral cat removal—be implemented to protect ground-dwelling forest birds and other threatened taxa across this landscape.

Surveys across multiple seasons or years are necessary to evaluate the effects of dynamic processes on long-term persistence of wildlife populations, such as effects of exotic species on native species populations. Unfortunately, multi-year surveys are rare, particularly for rainforest carnivore populations, and managers often rely on single-season/year, ‘snapshot’ surveys that produce static estimates of population parameters. Here we provide results using single-species, multi-year occupancy modeling from a six-year survey (2008–2013) of a rainforest carnivore community at a 15 km 2 area study site within the newly established Makira Natural Park, Madagascar. We demonstrate a precipitous decline in the native carnivore community with four of the six native carnivores (falanouc Eupleres goudotii , ring-tailed vontsira Galidia elegans , broad-striped vontsira Galidictis fasciata , and brown-tailed vontsira Salanoia concolor ) decreasing by at least 60% over this six-year period. In addition, we observed two exotic carnivores (small Indian civet Viverricula indica and feral cat Felis species) colonize this study site with Felis species increasing in occupancy from 0 to 0.68 by the final year. Further, we demonstrate how variables associated with human encroachment (i.e. distance to forest edge and nearest village) are most important for explaining these trends in native carnivore extirpation and exotic carnivore colonization. These findings provide additional evidence on the threat posed to native carnivore populations by the expansion of exotic carnivores worldwide. We highlight the striking increase in extirpation, and the factors influencing such changes, for native carnivores. In this manuscript, we point to the limited number of multi-year surveys to evaluate dynamic processes on long-term persistence of native wildlife populations, as well as the lack of exotic carnivore control programs in threatened ecosystems in many developing nations as factors limiting our ability to effectively conserve biodiversity across the globe.

Primate populations, including Madagascar’s lemurs, are threatened worldwide and conservationists need accurate population estimates to develop targeted conservation plans. We sought to fill knowledge gaps for three lemur taxa —white-fronted brown lemur (Eulemur albifrons); eastern woolly lemur (Avahi laniger); and Allocebus/Microcebus, a category combining observations of hairy-eared dwarf lemurs (Allocebus trichotis) and mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.)— in northeastern Madagascar by estimating their density, examining how their encounter rates and densities vary across three different forest types, and monitoring trends in encounter rates and densities at resurveyed sites, using data from surveys at six forest sites over a 4-year period (2010–2013). Landscape density for white-fronted brown lemur, eastern woolly lemur, and Allocebus/Microcebus was 21.5 (SE 3.67), 57.7 (SE 9.17), and 39.1 (SE 9.55) individuals/km2, respectively. There was no difference in density estimates at intact and intermediately degraded forest sites; however, we encountered white-fronted brown lemurs more often in intact forest (1.64 ± SE 0.40 individuals/km) than in intermediately degraded and degraded forest (0.15 ± SE 0.06 and 0.16 ± SE 0.06 individuals/km). In addition, we encountered white-fronted brown lemurs at lower rates in 2013 (0.15 ± SE 0.06 individuals/km) compared to 2010 (0.82 ± SE 0.12 individuals/km) at a resurveyed site. Our findings emphasize that primate researchers must account for variation in how lemur encounter rates and densities differ between intact and degraded forests, and although we observed a decline in white-fronted brown lemur encounter rate at our resurveyed site, we caution that changes in lemur encounter rates may simply reflect lower detection rates rather than lower density. Future research should focus on using conventional distance sampling techniques, which are infrequently used in primate studies, to provide more robust density estimates as a way to accurately assess trends and the effects of anthropogenic pressures on lemur populations.

Despite exceptionally high levels of biodiversity and endemism found in Madagascar, much of its wildlife remains little studied, particularly the carnivore community. The recently described, little-known black forest cat (locally known as “ fitoaty ”) is believed to be restricted to NE Madagascar and has been investigated only through village surveys and anecdotal accounts. From 2008 to 2012, we photographically sampled 7 forest sites with varying degrees of degradation and fragmentation across Makira Natural Park with the goals of: 1) estimating landscape occupancy for fitoaty ( Felis spp.), 2) identifying variables influencing fitoaty occupancy, and 3) comparing fitoaty and feral cat ( Felis spp.) occupancy across the landscape. We observed higher occupancy for fitoaty , minimal co-occurrence between fitoaty and feral cats ( n = 2 sites), and strong divergence in habitat use. We provide the 1st assessment of fitoaty morphology, including comparisons with anecdotal reports, and the 1st population assessment of Madagascar’s exotic cat community with insights into factors associated with carnivore population trends in Madagascar. We suggest the described fitoaty is a phenotypically different form of the feral cat, but additional research is needed. Targeted management plans are needed to diminish the spread and potential negative effects of invasive cats across this important biologically diverse ecoregion.

Madagascar's Eupleridae carnivores are perhaps the least studied and most threatened family of Carnivora. Investigating potential direct and indirect competition among these native species and sympatric exotic carnivores is necessary to better direct conservation actions. From 2008 to 2013, we photographically surveyed a diverse rainforest landscape, comparing six native and three exotic carnivores' activity patterns throughout the diel cycle. We used hierarchical Bayesian Poisson analysis to describe the activity patterns of Madagascar's carnivore community, assessed effects of season and site on temporal activity patterns, and estimated coefficients of overlap between carnivore pairings to assess effects of body size and ecological niche on temporal overlap among native and exotic carnivores. We observed changes in temporal activity patterns across seasons particularly during the austral summer (hot–dry season) for four native and two exotic carnivores, including evidence of fossa Cryptoprocta ferox altering their temporal activity during their mating season (hot–dry season). We found evidence of high overlap between natives and exotics indicating the potential for increased interactions and competition. The greatest overlap in temporal activity occurred between both ring-tail Galidia elegans and brown-tail vontsira Salanoia concolor and exotic dogs Canis familiaris. Cr. ferox, falanouc Eupleres goudotii and spotted fanaloka Fossa fossana also overlapped in activity with the nocturnal, exotic Indian civet Viverricula indica. Cr. ferox avoided humans and Ca. familiaris across all seasons. Unexpectedly, carnivore body size and ecological niche were not important predictors of temporal overlap. Previous research has shown these native and exotic carnivores overlap spatially and these new findings of temporal overlap among native and exotic carnivores add urgency to the need to manage exotic carnivores across Madagascar.

The composition of local mammalian carnivore communities has far-reaching effects on terrestrial ecosystems worldwide. To better understand how carnivore communities are structured, we analysed camera trap data for 108 087 trap days across 12 countries spanning five continents. We estimate local probabilities of co-occurrence among 768 species pairs from the order Carnivora and evaluate how shared ecological traits correlate with probabilities of co-occurrence. Within individual study areas, species pairs co-occurred more frequently than expected at random. Co-occurrence probabilities were greatest for species pairs that shared ecological traits including similar body size, temporal activity pattern and diet. However, co-occurrence decreased as compared to other species pairs when the pair included a large-bodied carnivore. Our results suggest that a combination of shared traits and top-down regulation by large carnivores shape local carnivore communities globally. Fil: Davis, Courtney L.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina Fil: Rich, Lindsey N.. University of California at Berkeley; Estados Unidos Fil: Farris, Sach J.. Virginia Tech University; Estados Unidos. Appalachian State University; Estados Unidos Fil: Kelly, Marcela J.. Virginia Tech University; Estados Unidos Fil: Di Bitetti, Mario Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina Fil: Di Blanco, Yamil Edgardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina Fil: Albanesi, Sebastian Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical. Instituto de Biodiversidad Neotropical; Argentina Fil: Farhadinia, Mohammad S.. University of Oxford; Reino Unido Fil: Gholikhani, Navid. Iranian Cheetah Society; Irán Fil: Hamel, Sandra. UiT The Arctic University of Norway; Noruega Fil: Harmsen, Bart J.. University of Belize; Belice Fil: Wultsch, Claudia. Virginia Tech University; Estados Unidos Fil: Kane, Mamadou D.. Senegalese National Parks Directorate; Senegal Fil: Martins, Quinton. UiT The Arctic University of Norway; Noruega. The Cape Leopard Trust, Cape Town; Sudáfrica Fil: Murphy, Asia J.. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos Fil: Steenweg, Robin. Grande Prairi; Canadá Fil: Sunarto, Sunarto. World Wildlife Fund; Indonesia Fil: Taktehrani, Atieh. Iranian Cheetah Society; Irán Fil: Thapa, Kanchan. Virginia Tech University; Estados Unidos. Conservation Science Unit; Nepal Fil: Tucker, Jody M.. Conservation Science Unit; Nepal Fil: Whittington, Jesse. Park Resource Conservation; Canadá Fil: Widodo, Febri A.. World Wildlife Fund; Indonesia Fil: Yoccoz, Nigel G.. UiT The Arctic University of Norway; Noruega Fil: Miller, David A.W.. State University of Pennsylvania; Estados Unidos

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is a proposed 0.76-m-diameter pipeline spanning approximately 1850 km to transport crude oil ([ 1 ][1]). The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of Fort Yates, North Dakota recently filed a lawsuit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers ([ 2 ][2]), who approved

Madagascar’s native small mammals (Tenrecidae and Nesomyinae) are understudied. To help fill these knowledge gaps, we analyzed 1,575 detections of small mammals obtained during camera-trap surveys at 7 sites in northeastern Madagascar (2008–2011) using single-season occupancy analyses in program PRESENCE. We estimated landscape occupancy and detection probabilities of tufted-tailed rats ( Eliurus spp.), red forest rats ( Nesomys spp.), greater hedgehog tenrecs ( Setifer setosus ), and common tenrecs ( Tenrec ecaudatus ) and examined how these parameters responded to habitat characteristics, habitat degradation, and the trap success of native and exotic carnivorans. Only Nesomys showed a marked difference in mean occupancy between intact (ψ = 0.71 ± SE 0.06), intermediately degraded (ψ = 0.23 ± SE 0.05), and degraded (ψ = 0.34 ± SE 0.06) forest sites. Only Nesomys and Setifer occupancy was strongly influenced by habitat characteristics; Nesomys occupancy was positively related to distance away from forest edge (β = 1.39 ± SE 0.27) and percent rainforest cover (β = 1.89 ± SE 0.39), and Setifer occupancy negatively related to average canopy height (β = −0.52 ± SE 0.25). We found trap success of exotic carnivorans had little influence on small mammal occupancy and detection probabilities (with the exception of Eliurus ). We suggest that camera traps are a valid method for studying aspects of small mammal ecology, but caution researchers to consider characteristics of camera traps (e.g., trigger speed) to increase potential inference.