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Puma Diet Diversity NM_Diet_Data for doi_10.2981_wlb.00875

Metadata Updated: July 6, 2024

Habitat heterogeneity and corresponding diversity in potential prey species should increase the diet breadth of generalist predators. Many previous studies describing puma Puma concolor diets in the arid regions of the southwestern United States were focused within largely xeric locations, overlooking the influence of heterogeneity created by riparian forests. Such habitat heterogeneity and corresponding prey diversity could influence prey availability and puma diet composition. We examined seasonal prey composition of pumas occupying areas with different habitat conditions representing riparian areas adjacent to the Rio Grande and xeric Chihuahuan Desert uplands in southern New Mexico. We collected prey composition data from 686 kill sites made by 17 (9 males and 8 females) GPS-collared pumas from 2014 to 2018. Diet composition included 32 different avian, aquatic, small mammal, and ungulate prey species. Prey composition varied, with more ungulate prey consumed by pumas inhabiting the upland desert areas and more aquatic prey consumed in the riparian bosque. Prey composition differed between seasons, with ungulate prey decreasing and aquatic prey increasing during the hot–dry season. Prey composition also varied between puma sex and habitat with females in the desert uplands consuming more small mammals than either males or females in riparian areas. The diverse diets of the pumas inhabiting the heterogeneous landscapes in southern New Mexico provide additional evidence that pumas have broad diets that are strongly influenced by the habitat and prey community that their home range encompasses.

Access & Use Information

Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

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Dates

Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024

Metadata Source

Harvested from DOI EDI

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date June 1, 2023
Metadata Updated Date July 6, 2024
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Maintainer
@Id http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/44f9bd796cd1e7d13829db7f571ae9bb
Identifier USGS:dac8bd01-5059-4c9e-8398-26f71757930f
Data Last Modified 20211005
Category geospatial
Public Access Level public
Bureau Code 010:12
Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
Metadata Catalog ID https://datainventory.doi.gov/data.json
Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
Harvest Object Id c947570d-dca1-40f1-b04b-65cf430d806e
Harvest Source Id 52bfcc16-6e15-478f-809a-b1bc76f1aeda
Harvest Source Title DOI EDI
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial -107.1936,33.3397,-106.507,34.5201
Publisher Hierarchy White House > U.S. Department of the Interior > U.S. Geological Survey
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 455ea59d0c4018be33c7a1aa45d0d6bf14c13afdd0c044553a6f30a997a73372
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": -107.1936, 33.3397, -107.1936, 34.5201, -106.507, 34.5201, -106.507, 33.3397, -107.1936, 33.3397}

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