AUTHOR=Wohner Patti J. , Scheerer Paul D. , Meeuwig Michael H. , Peterson James T. TITLE=A comprehensive multi-state conditional occupancy model for evaluating interactions of non-native and native species JOURNAL=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution VOLUME=10 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ecology-and-evolution/articles/10.3389/fevo.2022.1014707 DOI=10.3389/fevo.2022.1014707 ISSN=2296-701X ABSTRACT=
A major challenge in ecology is disentangling interactions of non-native, potentially invasive species on native species. Conditional two-species occupancy models examine the effects of dominant species (e.g., non-native) on subordinate species (e.g., native) while considering the possibility that occupancy of one species may affect occupancy and/ or detection of the other. Although conditional two-species models are useful for evaluating the influence of one species on presence of another, it is possible that species interactions are density dependent. Therefore, we developed a novel two-species occupancy model that incorporates multiple abundance states (i.e., absent, present, abundant) of the native species. We showcase the utility of this model with a case study that incorporates random effects and covariates on both occupancy and detection to help disentangle species interactions given varying occupancy and detection in different abundance states. We use snorkel survey data from the Umpqua basin, Oregon, where it is hypothesized that smallmouth bass