Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Activity patterns of ocelots and their potential prey in the Brazilian Pantanal

  • Original investigation
  • Published:
Mammalian Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Camera trapping has been widely used to study different aspects of animal ecology, increasing scientific knowledge and helping in conservation initiatives. Recently, some studies demonstrated the use of this technique to study temporal predator-prey interactions, most of which focused on large felids. In this study, we investigate the activity patterns of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis)—a medium-sized neotropical cat—and its known potential prey in the Brazilian Pantanal using photographs taken by camera traps. We tested for seasonal differences in activity patterns, and assessed the patterns of temporal overlap between this felid and three known potential prey: the Brazilian rabbit (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), Azara’s agouti (Dasyprocta azarae), and Paraguayan punaré (Thrichomyspachyurus). We estimated activity patterns using kernel density and measured the overlap between estimated paired distributions using a coefficient of overlap, hypothesizing that activity patterns would change between the rainy and dry season, and that overlap would be higher with rodents since they comprise the bulk of the ocelot’s diet in the Pantanal and elsewhere. Azara’s agouti and the Paraguayan punaré were the only species that presented significant changes in their activity patterns between seasons. Contrary to our hypothesis, there was low coincidence of activity patterns between ocelots and Azara’s agouti for both seasons, but temporal overlap between ocelots and Paraguayan punarés was high with no significant difference, at least in the dry season. Overall, temporal overlap between ocelots and Brazilian rabbits was high, with no significant differences. In general, our results suggest that ocelots may tailor their activity to that of some of their potential prey to increase the probability of encounters. The results provide the first insight into temporal interactions involving ocelots and their potential prey in the Brazilian Pantanal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alho, C.J.R., 2008. Biodiversity of the Pantanal: response to seasonal flooding regime and to environmental degradation. Braz. J. Biol. 68, 957–966.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Alho, C.J.R., Lacher, T.E.J.R., Campos, Z.M.S., Goncalves, H.C., 1987. Mamíferos da Fazenda Nhumirim, Sub-região da Nhecolândia, Pantanal do Mato Grosso do Sul: levantamento preliminarde espécies. Rev. Bras. Biol. 48, 213–225.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, R.C., 2009. Ecologia de mesocarnívoros em uma área no Pantanal Central, Mato Grosso do Sul. Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande (M.Sc. dissertation).

  • Bianchi, R.C., Campos, R.C., Xavier-Filho, N.L., Olifiers, N., Gomper, M., Mourão, G.M., 2013. Intraspecific, interspecific, and seasonal differences in the diet of three mid-sized carnivores in a large neotropical wetland. Acta Theriol. 13, 2001–2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cadavid-Garcia, E.A., 1984. O Clima No Pantanal Mato-grossense. Embrapa, Brasília.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desbiez, A.L.J., Bodmer, R.E., Tomás, W.M., 2010. Mammalian densities in a Neotropical Wetland subject to extreme climatic events. Biotropica 42, 372–378.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Bitetti, M.S., Paviolo, A., De Angelo, C, 2006. Density, habitat use and activity patterns of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) inthe Atlantic Forest of Misiones, Argentina. J. Zool. 270, 153–163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, L.H., 1987. Comparative feeding ecology of felids in a neotropical rainforest. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 20, 271–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Emmons, L.H., Sherman, P., Bolster, D., Goldizen, A., Terborgh, J., 1989. Ocelot behaviour in moonlight. In: Redford, K., Eisenberg, J.F. (Ed.), Advances on Neotropical Mammalogy. The Sandhill Crane Press, Florida, pp. 233–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, V.C., Sarmento, P., Sollmann, R., Tôrres, N., Jácomo, A.T.A., Negrões, N., Silveira, L, 2013. Jaguar and puma activity patterns and predator-prey interactions in four Brazilian Biomes. Biotropica 45, 373–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gómez, H., Wallace, R.B., Ayala, G., Tejada, R., 2005. Dry season activity periods of some Amazonian mammals. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 40, 91–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haines, A.M., GrassmanJr, L.I., Tewes, M.E.,Janecka, J.E., 2006. First ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) monitored with GPS telemetry. Eur. J. Wildl. Res. 52, 216–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harmsen, B.J., Foster, R.J., Silver, S., Ostro, L, Doncaster, P., 2010. Differential use of trails by forest mammals and the implications for camera trap studies: a case study from Belize. Biotropica 42, 126–133.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harmsen, B.J., Foster, R.J., Silver, S.C., Ostro, L.E.T., Doncaster, C.P., 2011. Jaguar and puma activity patterns in relation to their main prey. Mamm. Biol. 76, 320–324.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haverson, P.M., Tewes, M.E., Anderson, G.L., Laack, L.L., 2004. Habitat use by ocelots in south Texas: implications for restoration. Wildl. Soc. Bull. 32, 948–954.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hernández-Saintmartín, A.D., Rosas-Rosas, O.C., Palácio-Núñez, J., Tarango-Arámbula, LA, Clemente-Sánchez, F., Hoogesteijn, A.L., 2013. Activity patterns of jaguar, puma and their potential prey in San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Acta Zool. Mex. 29, 520–533.

    Google Scholar 

  • The IUCN, 2016. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.4, https://doi.org/www.iucnredlist.org (15.05.16).

  • Jammalamadaka, S.R., Sengupta, A., 2001. Topics in Circular Statistics. World Scientific Press, Singapore.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Junk, W.J., Cunha, C.N., Wantzen, K.M., Peterman, P., Strüssmann, C, Marques, M.I., Adi, J., 2006. Biodiversity and its conservation in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil. Aquat. Sci. 68, 278–309.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaiser, S.K., Margarida, T.C.C., Fischer, M.L., 2011. Avaliacão do comportamento de cutias Dasyprocta azarae e Dasyprocta leporina (Rodentia Dasyproctidae) em cativeiro e semi cativeiro em parques urbanos de Curitiba, Paraná, Brasil. Rev. Etol. 10, 68–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolowski, J.M., Alonso, A., 2010. Density and activity patterns of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis) in northern Peru and the impact of oil exploration. Biol. Conserv. 143, 917–925.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linkie, M., Ridout, M.S., 2011. Assessing tiger-prey interactions in Sumatran rainforests. J. Zool. 284, 224–229.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur, R.H., Pianka, E.R., 1966. On optimal use of a patchy environment. Am. Nat. 100, 603–609.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maffei, L., Cuéllar, E., Noss, A.J., 2002. Using camera-traps to assess mammals in the Chaco-Chiquitanoecotone. Rev. Bol. Ecol. 11, 55–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mamede, S.B., Alho, C.J.R., 2006. Response of wild mammals to shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal. Braz. J. Biol. 66, 991–998.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Meredith, M., Ridout, M.S., 2014. Overlap: estimates of coefficients of overlapping for animal activity patterns. R package version 0.2.2, https://doi.org/cran.r-project.org/package=overlap (10.09.15).

  • Monterroso, P., Alves, P.C., Ferreras, P., 2013. Catch me if you can: diel activity patterns of mammalian prey and predators. Ethology 119, 1044–1056.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monterroso, P., Alves, P.C., Ferreras, P., 2014. Plasticity in circadian activity patterns of mesocarnivores in Southwestern Europe: implications for species coexistence. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 68, 1403–1417.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, J.L., Gardner, G.L., 1997. Leopardus pardalis. Mamm. Species 548, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira-Santos, L.G.R., Zucco, C.A., Agostinelli, C, 2013. Using conditional circular kernel density functions to test hypotheses on circadian activity. Anim. Behav. 85, 269–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porfirio, G., Sarmento, P., Xavier-Filho, N.L., Cruz, J., Fonseca, C, 2014. Medium and large size mammals of southern Serrado Amolar, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazilian Pantanal. Check List 10, 473–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team, 2013. R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing. Version 3.0.0. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, https://doi.org/www.R-project.org (10.07.15).

  • Ridout, M.S., Linkie, M., 2009. Estimating overlap of daily activity patterns from camera trap data. J. Agric. Biol. Environ. Stat. 14, 322–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rocha-Mendes, F., Mikick, S.B., Quadros, J., Pedro, W.A., 2010. Feeding ecology of carnivores (Mammalia, Carnivora) in Atlantic Forest remnants, Southern Brazil. Biota Neotrop. 10, 1–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero-Muñoz, A., Maffei, L., Cuéllar, E., Noss, A.J., 2010. Temporal separation between jaguar and puma inthe dry forests of southern Bolivia. J. Trop. Ecol. 26, 303–311.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, J., Hearn, A.J., Johnson, P.J., Macdonald, D.W., 2013. Activity patterns and temporal avoidance by prey in response to Sunda clouded leopard predation risk. J. Zool. 290, 96–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rowcliffe,J.M., Kays, R., Kranstauber, B., Carbone, C, Jansen, PA, 2014. Quantifying levels of animal activity using camera trap data. Method Ecol. Evol. 5, 1170–1179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidell, B.P., 2002. Moonrise 3.5, https://doi.org/moonrise.us/moonrise.html (05.08.15).

  • Silva-Pereira,J.E., Moro-Rios, R.F., Bilski, D.R., Passos, F.C., 2011. Diets of three sympatric neotropical small cats: food niche overlap and insterspecies differences in prey comsumption. Mamm. Biol. 76, 308–312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trolle, M., Kéry, M., 2003. Ocelot density estimation in the Patanal using capture-recapture analysis of camera trapping data. J. Mammal. 84, 607–614.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Villa Meza, A., Meyer, E.M., González, C.L., 2002. Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) food habits in a tropical deciduous forest of Jalisco, Mexico. Am. Midl. Nat. 148, 146–154.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, E., 2002. Diets of ocelots (Leopardus pardalis), margays (Leopardus wiedii), and oncillas (Leopardus tigrinus) in the Atlantic rainforest in southeast Brazil. Stud. Neotrop. Fauna Environ. 37, 207–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weckel, M., Giuliano, W., Silver, S., 2006. Jaguar (Panthera onca) feeding ecology: distribution of predator and prey through time and space. J. Zool. 270, 25–30.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology & Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Campus Universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal

    Grasiela Porfirio, Carlos Fonseca & Pedro Sarmento

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduacão em Ecologia e Conservacão, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Cep 79070-900, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

    Vania Cristina Foster

Authors
  1. Grasiela Porfirio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Vania Cristina Foster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Carlos Fonseca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Pedro Sarmento
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Grasiela Porfirio.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Porfirio, G., Foster, V.C., Fonseca, C. et al. Activity patterns of ocelots and their potential prey in the Brazilian Pantanal. Mamm Biol 81, 511–517 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2016.06.006

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2016.06.006

Keywords

Search

Navigation