Relating mesocarnivore relative abundance to anthropogenic land-use with a hierarchical spatial count model

摘要: There is growing need to develop models of spatial patterns in animal abundance, yet comparatively few examples such exist. This especially true situations where the abundance one species may inhibit that another, as intensively-farmed landscape Prairie Pothole Region (PPR) central United States, waterfowl production largely constrained by mesocarnivore nest predation. We used a hierarchical Bayesian approach relate distribution various land-cover types relative abundances four mesocarnivores PPR: coyote Canis latrans, raccoon Procyon lotor, red fox Vulpes vulpes, and striped skunk Mephitis mephitis. developed for each at multiple resolutions (41.4 km2, 10.4 2.6 km2) address different ecological management-related questions. Model results were similar irrespective resolution. found amount row-crop agriculture was nearly ubiquitous our best models, exhibiting positive relationship with species. The native grassland positively associated but generally absent from skunk. Red other, suggesting potential niche overlap. no evidence limited other species, might be expected under hypothesis mesopredator release. relationships between across resolutions. Our indicated PPR are most likely occur portions large amounts agricultural land-cover. Further, track-survey data can framework gain inferences regarding abundance.