African serval photo – ©Miguel Lajas
Gorongosa National Park hosts a wide variety of small or medium-size carnivores – the large-spotted genet, African civet, serval, honey badger and several species of mongoose, including the marsh mongoose – also known as mesocarnivores.
Researchers Katie Grabowski (formerly from Princeton University – now with Oxford University), Erin Phillips (Princeton University) and Kaitlyn Gaynor (University of British Columbia) used a grid of 60 motion-activated camera traps in a woodland area south of Lake Urema to study the interactions between the four species.
While little is known about the how mesocarnivores interact or “partition”, their behavior is critical for co-existance. Spatial and temporal partitioning refers to the natural division or allocation of space or time among different species as they survive within an ecosystem, which helps reduce competition for resources such as food, shelter, or mates.
A mesocarnivore’s diet consists of 50–70% meat. Non-vertebrate foods like insects, fungi, fruits, other plant material make up the balance.
An example of spatial partitioning may involve one species occupying the forest undergrowth, while another species dominates the canopy. Temporal partitioning might result in more activity during the day for one species while another occupies the same habitat but is active during the night.
Together, these strategies allow multiple species to coexist within an ecosystem by minimizing direct competition and maximizing resource utilization.
Surprisingly, the project researchers found little to no evidence of spatial or temporal partitioning among the mesocarnivores they studied in Gorongosa National Park. They determined that differences in diet and an abundance of resources may limit competition for survival. The results also add to a growing understanding of African ecology, conservation and restoration.
You can read the research at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.10965https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.10965