SPECIES ACTIVITY OVERLAP AT FORT DE SOTO PARK, PINELLAS COUNTY, FLORIDA

Signe E. Renstrom, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies, Biology, and Animal Studies Disciplines

Spencer A. Harris, Eckerd College, Animal Studies, Environmental Studies, and Economics Disciplines

Laura E. Josler, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline

Ethan T. Chaipatanapong, Eckerd College, Environmental Studies Discipline

Elizabeth A. Forys, Environmental Studies and Biology Disciplines

Timothy D. Bransford, Eckerd College, Animal Studies Discipline

Signe Renstrom

Spencer Harris

Laura Josler

Ethan Chaipatanapong

Predators in a habitat can have direct consequences on the activity patterns of both their prey species and other predators. Fort De Soto County Park in Pinellas County, Florida contains a rich ecosystem that is home to both predators like coyotes (Canis latrans) and potential prey mesomammals like raccoons (Procyon lotor) and Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana). The park receives millions of visitors a year and is open from sunrise to sunset, forcing many species to move their activity to the night. Therefore, we asked how much overlap is shared between coyotes, raccoons, and Virginia opossums. We deployed 20 camera traps throughout the park and captured both photos and videos from dusk till dawn between January 2022 and January 2023 (N=1653). To control for individual resampling, we filtered data using 30 minute intervals between captures for each species. We used the package overlap in R to analyze activity overlap between coyotes and both raccoons and opossums. We found an overlap coefficient of Δ = 0.879 for raccoons and coyotes, and Δ = 0.877 for opossums and coyotes. To test for any significant differences in activity patterns, we then performed a Watson’s two-sample test for homogeneity using the package CircStats. Both raccoons (p<0.001) and opossums (p<0.001) had significant differences in activity overlap when compared to coyotes. Overall, we see that while all three species have large degrees of overlap in activity, raccoons and opossums have significant time periods when they are much more active than coyotes.

For more information contact serenstrom@eckerd.edu

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