Abstract
<jats:p>Rapid global change driven by human activity and invasive species is reshaping ecological communities, yet its effects on species’ spatiotemporal distributions remain poorly resolved. Human disturbance can alter resource availability, predator pressure, and competitive interactions, thereby modifying how sympatric species partition habitat use spatially and temporally. Studies of interspecific competition often overlook fine-scale habitat and temporal processes that facilitate coexistence across disturbance gradients, potentially overemphasising competition while underestimating effects of habitat disturbance. We evaluated the combined influence of human disturbance, an invasive predator–the feral cat (Felis catus), and competition on the spatiotemporal dynamics of three sympatric rodent species in Lutruwita/Tasmania: the native long-tailed mouse (Pseudomys higginsi; ~65 g), native swamp rat (Rattus lutreolus velutinus; ~90 g), and invasive black rat (Rattus rattus; ~125g). Using complementary unbaited and seed baited camera-trap surveys, we assessed habitat use, temporal partitioning, and interference competition. Native rodents were more frequently detected in intact, less disturbed habitats, whereas black rats were associated with human disturbance and lower elevations. Cat activity did not affect habitat use, but the larger native rodent, the swamp rat, reduced diurnal activity in the presence of cats, consistent with risk avoidance. Swamp rats and black rats exhibited strong temporal overlap, with the former able to limit access to food by the latter. The smallest native rodent, the long-tailed mouse, experiences synergistic pressure from human habitat disturbance and invasive species. These results demonstrate that human disturbance and invasive species jointly structure rodent spatiotemporal dynamics, highlighting the need for integrative approaches that explicitly incorporate multiple interacting threats in ecological research and conservation planning.</jats:p>