Living across landscapes: spatial and temporal strategies of crab-eating fox in structurally distinct environments

Abstract Habitat generalists exhibit broad ecological plasticity, yet their space-use strategies may be shaped by intrinsic traits and environmental heterogeneity. We investigated how crab-eating foxes ( Cerdocyon thous ) adjust spatial and temporal behaviors across two contrasting landscapes in the Brazilian wetland. We tracked 31 individuals to assess how sex, body mass and environment influence home range size, and evaluated habitat type and forest distance effects on habitat selection and daily activity. Home range size was influenced by sex, body mass, and environment, with a sex–body mass interaction revealing opposite trends between males and females—heavier males occupied larger ranges. Foxes in more forested areas occupied broader ranges than those in open landscapes. Habitat selection differed between sites: at site 1, foxes showed stronger circadian variation, avoiding water, wetlands and forest by day but selecting water and using these habitats at night; at site 2, forest, savanna, wetland, and water were avoided relative to grasslands. Foxes at site 1 were more associated with the forest edges at night, while at site 2 they consistently selected areas 100 to 400 m from forest edges throughout the diel cycle. Activity patterns mirrored these contrasts, with a sharp and synchronized nocturnal peak in site 1, but more heterogeneous rhythms in site 2. Our findings underscore the remarkable plasticity of crab-eating foxes, revealing how intrinsic traits and landscape context jointly shape space-use strategies. By linking behavioral flexibility to environmental heterogeneity, we provide insights into ecological mechanisms enabling generalist carnivores to persist and support biodiversity conservation in dynamic landscapes.