Spatiotemporal Activity Disruption of Wild Ungulates by Co‐Occurring Livestock: A Case Study in Xinjiang Kanas National Nature Reserve, China

The spatiotemporal differentiation within habitats plays a crucial role in shaping community diversity and coexistence mechanisms. Exploring how species with similar ecological niches coexist remains a fundamental problem in ecology. We utilized infrared camera data to study the spatiotemporal activity patterns and interspecies interactions of three wild ungulates and sympatric livestock-red deer (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>), roe deer (<i>Capreolus pygargus</i>), wild boar (<i>Sus scrofa</i>), and cattle (<i>Bos taurus</i>)-in Xinjiang Kanas National Nature Reserve, China. By applying methods such as the multi-species occupancy model, we explored how these species achieve coexistence through spatiotemporal niche differentiation. Results show that elevation (<i>β</i> = 0.595), aspect (<i>β</i> = 2.454), and tree density (<i>β</i> = 2.563) were key determinants of red deer occupancy; roe deer were strongly influenced by elevation (<i>β</i> = 1.789), aspect (<i>β</i> = 2.673), and slope (<i>β</i> = 0.796); wild boar occupancy increased with distance to water (<i>β</i> = 1.652) but declined with elevation (<i>β</i> = -1.567); cattle preferred lower elevations (<i>β</i> = -1.921). All three wild ungulate species positively correlate with the seasonal grazing covariate, indicating that their activities increase in summer. Their crepuscular activity patterns moderately overlap with those of cattle. The analysis of interspecies interactions reveals that cattle have a strong negative impact on red deer and roe deer (|ORsp| = 10.608 and 11.928, respectively); by contrast, the interaction between cattle and wild boar is relatively weaker. The spatiotemporal interaction analysis indicates that there is behavioral avoidance among species. Their co-occurrence rates range from 25.9% to 51.9%, and the observed encounter intervals are longer than expected. This study emphasizes the disruptive impact of grazing and advocates taking measures such as shortening the grazing duration, limiting the grazing area, and removing physical barriers to maintain ecosystem health. Meanwhile, it is proposed to achieve long-term conservation through interdepartmental collaboration and the establishment of monitoring systems.