Divergent or convergent: how do forest carnivores use time in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem?

This article examines how winter seasonal changes influence the temporal activity patterns and interactions among three forest carnivores—Pacific martens (Martes caurina), Rocky Mountain red foxes (Vulpes vulpes macroura), and coyotes (Canis latrans)—and two prey species, American red squirrels (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus), in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Wyoming. Using data from 107 remote cameras collected over three winters (2014–2017), the study found that coyotes significantly shifted their activity from early to late winter, increasing temporal overlap with both prey and red foxes, while martens and red foxes maintained more consistent activity patterns. Increased overlap between coyotes and red foxes in late winter suggests heightened intraguild competition under resource constraints, whereas prey species exhibited some temporal relief from predators. The study also assessed fine-scale temporal interactions via time-between-detections but found no significant avoidance or attraction patterns among carnivores at camera sites, indicating that diel activity variation remains a key mechanism facilitating coexistence in this predator-prey community.