Landscape and diel fear cycles: linear features are perceived as risky by peccary ( Dicotyles tajacu )

The risk of encountering a predator triggers different antipredator strategies in the prey, including spatial (landscape level), temporal (daily activity cycles), and behavioral changes. There is evidence that linear landscape attributes (e.g., dirt roads, firebreaks, trails) are used by both predators and prey, although studies examining how they react to mutual use are scarce. We propose a conceptual model that explains how prey might change their activity patterns under spatial-scale scenarios of predation risk. We test our predictions with Jaguar (Panthera onca) and Puma (Puma concolor) as predators and Collared Peccary (Dicotyles tajacu) as the prey. Peccary activity patterns differed between foraging areas with different levels of predation risk, with low-risk areas showing 2 peaks of activity around dusk, but exclusively diurnal in high-risk areas. The highest overlap coefficient (Δ^1 = 0.82) occurred when comparing peccary activity patterns near linear attributes and high-risk foraging areas, and the lowest (Δ^1 = 0.16) between high-risk foraging areas and Jaguar activity patterns, showing a completely diurnal pattern when the Jaguar was inactive. The overlap coefficient was intermediate (Δ^1 = 0.45) when comparing Puma and peccary activity patterns in high-risk areas. The observed similarity in peccary activity patterns between high-predation-risk foraging areas and linear attributes seems to indicate that the latter are also perceived as high-risk areas that lead to changes in their activity patterns.