Media release

From: The Royal Society

Increasing ambient temperatures trigger shifts in activity patterns and temporal partitioning in a large carnivore guild

Summary: Though climate change can impact species interactions and increase extinction risk, there is limited evidence on how specific climate factors, such as temperature, impact interactions. Rafiq et al investigated the impacts of temperature on the activity timings and overlaps between four species of African large carnivores: lions, leopards, cheetahs, and African wild dogs. They found that temperature shaped species activity patterns, making most species more nocturnal and less active as temperatures increased. Cheetahs, normally diurnal, showed the most significant shift towards nocturnality in warmer conditions, leading to increased overlap with other carnivores. This shift increased temporal overlap between cheetahs and other carnivores, which can injure, steal food from, and kill cheetahs, by up to 15.92%. This study highlights the importance of considering the responses of multiple species when inferring climate impacts on ecosystems.

Sun spots – Cheetahs may be particularly vulnerable to climate change, as rising temperatures force them into more nocturnal activity and competition with other carnivores. Activity patterns of lions, leopard, cheetahs, and African wild dogs in northern Botswana were monitored using tracking collars. All species decreased activity and were more active at night with increasing temperatures. This was especially pronounced in cheetahs, increasing their overlap with other carnivores by an average of 15.92%.