Pallas’s cats were more nocturnal in wind-farm areas with greater fox dietary overlap

The turbines were far from the only thing traveling through this desert following sundown.

Red foxes, recorded by camera traps in China’s Hexi Corridor, made multiple crossings of the steppe habitat. Meanwhile, the far more elusive Pallas’s cat was captured on camera only sporadically.

Scientists wondered whether development of these wind farms was affecting how these predators coexisted in their environment.

This study was conducted in the Zhangye region of Gansu Province within a major area of renewable energy generation, featuring many wind and solar facilities.

Indeed, it was, but not necessarily where the cats traveled. Rather, it was the timing of their activity.

The cameras watched for 22,854 days

This study was conducted in the Zhangye region of Gansu Province within a major area of renewable energy generation, featuring many wind and solar facilities.

Investigators compared sites within wind facility boundaries with control sites outside these boundaries in the desert steppe habitat.

Following the removal of 17 camera trapping sites because of either destruction or malfunctions, 164 sites were left.

They yielded 13,156 independent observations of animal and human activity for 22,854 days.

Red foxes made up 840 observations. Pallas’s cats made up only 62.

This asymmetry forms one of the narratives.

Red foxes are versatile generalists, whereas Pallas’s cats are specialized predators and are thought of as more sensitive to disturbance by humans.

The wind farms changed the prey equation

This was not limited to taking counts of the number of photographs alone.

In addition, the team conducted studies based on camera trapping as well as DNA metabarcoding of the feces of carnivores, which helped them to study the distribution of the animals, their activity timings, and also their feeding habits.

These three factors represent three different ecological niches: spatial, temporal, and trophic niches.

Prey scarcity was observed in wind farm regions, according to the research. As a consequence of that, there was increased overlap in the diets of the two carnivores.

Red foxes had an easier time adjusting to the situation.

They had a diverse feeding habit, which helped them to widen the scope of food items in the disturbed ecosystem.

However, Pallas’s cats had fewer options available for them.

The cats moved deeper into the night

The Pallas’s cats had another dimension to separate themselves on. It was time.

Within the wind farm zones, their behavior became more nocturnal, decreasing their overlap with human activities, as well as separating their timing from the red foxes’.

Red foxes did not demonstrate such a change in time activity as dramatically.

It corresponded to scientists’ expectations that foxes would be less disturbed by humans compared to cats, which are more sensitive to disturbance.

The turbines did not prevent the two animals from inhabiting one area. They changed the way this co-inhabitation occurred in time.

 

Space did not separate them as expected

Another prediction was made. If Pallas’s cats would avoid wind infrastructure and roads but the red foxes would tolerate them, then their spatial overlap would occur within the wind farms. It didn’t.

Though the two species differed in habitat preferences, their spatial niche overlap stayed the same in both wind farm and non-wind farm locations.

According to the authors, one reason might be the prey distribution and livestock.

795 events of prey were filmed by camera traps, 777 of which were rodents, 4,609 livestock, and 327 humans.

These animals determine what areas are good for hunting of the predators regardless of turbine presence. Thus, the biggest difference between these two species was observed in time.

Sixty-two cat events set an important limit

Firstly, this research has not demonstrated any causal relationship between wind farms and Pallas’s cats being driven away from the Hexi Corridor.

Neither has it demonstrated a decrease in population.

It only showed patterns of activity, habitat use and diet, while the Pallas’s-cat dataset included 62 independent camera events.

The authors admit as well that such things as climate and disease can affect the observed patterns even if the consistency of their results shows that the wind farm disturbance was the main factor.

However, what the cameras show is something else. The two predators still shared the same area.

The overlap in food supply increased where the prey decreased. The red fox could extend its diet. The Pallas’s cat could adjust its schedule.

Thus, the coexistence in the Hexi Corridor’s wind farms did not end but rather took place at another time – at nighttime.

The full study can be found here: Qin, M., Xiao, W., Xia, X., Xu, K., Song, D., & Xiao, Z. (2025). Contrasting effects of wind farm disturbances on multi-dimensional competition and coexistence of sympatric mesocarnivores. Biological Conservation, 312, 111458.