Rainfall reduces the potential for competitive suppression of a globally endangered ungulate by livestock
Data files
Feb 20, 2024 version files 43.16 MB
Abstract
Protected areas often are too small to house populations of wide-ranging species. Viability of wildlife populations therefore depends on whether interactions with humans and their land uses are negative, neutral, or positive. In central Iran, we measured interactions between globally endangered onagers (Equus hemionus onager) and livestock by analyzing remotely-sensed vegetation metrics within livestock grazing areas, tracking 9 animals with GPS telemetry, and assessing onagers' diet quality through analysis of fecal samples. Resource selection by onagers depended both on the season and the presence of livestock. During the dry season, livestock reduced forage (some combination of forage biomass and forage quality) compared to pre-grazing periods, demonstrating the potential for competitive suppression of onagers by livestock when resources are scarce. Additionally, during both seasons, selection for forage by onagers was accentuated at night when livestock were absent, indicating onager avoidance of livestock. During the wet season, onagers exposed to livestock exhibited higher-quality diets than those that did not co-occur with livestock, suggesting that livestock grazing may potentially enhance forage quality for onagers. Consequently, collaboration with pastoralists to regularly rotate the locations of dry and wet season leases could alleviate negative effects of livestock grazing on onagers. Similar to other cases in multi-use landscapes, temporal shifts in the strength of competition—driven by diel cycles and seasonal rainfall—may characterize wildlife-livestock interactions in Iran and elsewhere in Asian rangelands. Our study highlights the possibility that conservation of an endangered mammal could be compatible with livestock production, at least during wet seasons.
README
The Onager_RSF.csv represents habitat covariates of used (denoted by column ‘case’ equal to TRUE) and available points (denoted by column ‘case’ equal to FALSE) by onager (Equus hemionus onager) during 2017 and 2018 detailed in Esmaeili et al. 2024. The dataset is organized based on a resource selection function framework, and can be analyzed using weighted logistic regression models with each individual as random intercept and slope following the methods described in the associated publication. Column headings exactly match the variables described in the associated publication in Biological Conservation.
Below is a description of the data contained in each column:
- id: a unique identifier for each of 9 collared animals.
- case: determines if the point was used (TRUE) or available (FALSE).
- MSAVI and dist_water: values of MSAVI (representing vegetation primary productivity or greenness) and Euclidean distance to water extracted at each used and available points. The MSAVI value is unitless and the dist_water is in meters.
- Weight: assigned a weight of 1 and 1000 to used and available points, respectively.
- Season: study season including dry or wet season.
- Time: time of day including day or night.
- Area: study area determines if the point was collected within the Bahram-e-Goor Protected Area (bpa) or in Qatrouiyeh National Park (qnp).