Perception of scale and resource partitioning by peccaries: Behavioral causes and ecological implications

Two herds of white-lipped (Tayassu precari) and two herds of collared (T. tajacu) peccaries were monitored by aerial and ground radiotelemetry in rainforest and rainforest-savanna-wetland edge vegetation from January 1992 to January 1993 (total locations = 194) in the northern Brazilian Amazon. Small- and large-scale patterns of vegetation in their ranges were quantified and described, and dietary items were noted. One herd of white-lipped peccaries was radiotracked in the dry and wet-flood seasons and the other herd was followed only for the wet-flood season. Considering the total area of ranges of the four herds as available habitat, white-lipped peccaries used palm (Mauritia flexuosa) wetlands and savanna wetlands more than expected, whereas collared peccaries used terra-firme forest more often than expected. White-lipped peccaries did not show seasonal differences in habitat use. One herd of white-lipped peccaries spent more time in riverine vegetation and savanna-wetlands than the other, which preferred palm-wetlands and terra-firme forest. Collared peccaries occurred almost exclusively in terra-firme forest; they did not enter savanna-wetlands and rarely used riverine vegetation. Each species may be responding to different levels of organization of the vegetation. Collared peccaries partitioned their habitats at finer scales of resolution than white-lipped peccaries, and the two species may have different habitat requirements due to differences in body size, morphology, and behavior. Apparent requirements of white-lipped peccaries for a large-scale landscape-level mosaic of vegetation types and collared peccaries for a single large-scale vegetation type may explain the higher susceptibility of white-lipped peccaries to extirpation by anthropogenic disturbance.