Subtle temporal avoidance and nocturnality may enable mesopredators to cope with interspecific aggression at shared spatial resources. This could perhaps be due to temporal shielding or interference with risk cues. The nocturnal effect of large carnivores was however moderated and reduced by human activity. Low light levels likely provide safer conditions by reducing the visual detectability of mesopredators. Foxes responded to higher large carnivore activity by being more nocturnal. Carnivore activity, particularly fox, overlapped much less with that of diurnal humans. Activity curves followed expectations based on interspecific killing, with activity peaks coinciding where body size differences were small (wolf and lynx) but not when they were intermediate (foxes to large carnivores). Carnivore activity patterns overlapped greatly and to a similar extent for all pairings. Humans were diurnal, foxes nocturnal and large carnivores active during the night, immediately after sunrise and before sunset. We explored activity patterns, nocturnality and the effects of human activity upon a guild of carnivores (grey wolf, Canis lupus Eurasian lynx, Lynx lynx red fox, Vulpes vulpes) using travel routes in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.
Human context might also modify temporal interactions between predators. Apex predators, including humans, can affect mesopredator activity patterns. Temporal avoidance of interspecific aggression can enable access to resources without spatial exclusion. While constrained by endogenous rhythms, morphology and ecology, animals may still exhibit flexible activity patterns in response to risk.
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