More Than Habitat Loss and Fragmentation: The Effect of Human-Modified Landscapes on the Spatiotemporal Use and Interactions of Mesocarnivores

Abstract

Anthropogenic habitat destruction is one of the major causes of biodiversity loss, driving species declines across the planet. The resultant human-modified landscapes are not detrimental for all species. Some species such as small to medium-sized habitat generalist carnivores (hereafter referred to as ‘mesocarnivores’) are able to thrive because of the exclusion of natural enemies and anthropogenic sources of food. With the benefits of human-modified landscapes come novel threats, such as increased exposure to hunting and introduced antagonists. Mesocarnivores may respond to these threats with changes in space and time use, with potential consequences for species interactions. In this dissertation, I examine how drivers of mesocarnivore space and time use align with physical characteristics of the human-modified landscape and associated factors, and what implications these results have for interactions between native species. I do this using empirical work across two temperate systems (Chapters II, III, and IV), and a simulation model (Chapter V).