Fear of the dark? A mesopredator mitigates large carnivore risk through nocturnality, but humans moderate the interaction

Carnivores in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia, exhibit flexible activity patterns to mitigate risks from apex predators and humans. The study found that while grey wolves, Eurasian lynx, and red foxes show distinct temporal behaviors—humans are diurnal, large carnivores are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), and foxes are nocturnal—their activity overlaps significantly, particularly when body size differences are small. Foxes increase nocturnality in response to higher large carnivore activity, likely to reduce visual detectability and avoid aggression. However, human presence moderates this effect, potentially by disrupting risk cues or providing temporal shielding. This research highlights the role of temporal partitioning as a mechanism for species coexistence and resource access, with implications for trophic interactions and ecosystem services in protected areas.

Haswell, P. M., Kusak, J., Jones, K. A., & Hayward, M. W. (2020). Fear of the dark? A mesopredator mitigates large carnivore risk through nocturnality, but humans moderate the interaction. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 74(5). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-020-02831-2