The Effects Of Landscape Change On Behaviour And Risk Perceptions Of Predator And Prey Communities On A Heterogeneous Landscape In Alberta And British Columbia Canada

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The Effects of Landscape Change on Behaviour and Risk Perceptions of Predator and Prey Communities on a Heterogeneous Landscape in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada

Author : Gillian Chow-Fraser
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (119 download)

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Book Synopsis The Effects of Landscape Change on Behaviour and Risk Perceptions of Predator and Prey Communities on a Heterogeneous Landscape in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada by : Gillian Chow-Fraser

Download or read book The Effects of Landscape Change on Behaviour and Risk Perceptions of Predator and Prey Communities on a Heterogeneous Landscape in Alberta and British Columbia, Canada written by Gillian Chow-Fraser and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat selection is assumed to be informed by prior knowledge of the costs and benefits associated with habitat patches on heterogeneous landscapes. Ultimately, species should select habitat that maximizes resources acquired, and minimizes risks to mortality. However, landscape change alters the distribution of resources and, therefore, the energetic trade-offs that drive habitat selection. I investigated how landscape change, through anthropogenic disturbance features, affects behavioural decisions within the predator and prey community, and how those choices affect fitness in the boreal forests and foothills of west-central Alberta and east-central British Columbia. In my first data chapter, I investigated how interspecific interactions within the predator community changed across a gradient of anthropogenic disturbances, focusing on the habitat selection of wolverine (Gulo gulo). I used a novel temporally-explicit approach with camera trap data that modelled weekly co-occurrence of species. I found that anthropogenic features facilitated increased competition between wolverine and coyote, which I suggest is the mechanism that drives broad-scale declines of wolverine on disturbed landscapes. In my second chapter, I tested how woodland caribou evaluated risks and rewards associated with predation risk, disturbance features, and forage habitat during the calving period in two herds on landscapes with differing degrees of disturbance. I compared drivers of resource selection between mothers whose calves survived and mothers whose calves died in either herd. I found that resource selection for mothers on the lesser disturbed landscape was driven by a trade off between predation risk and forage habitat, wherein mothers whose calves eventually died prioritized selection of forage habitat over predation risk. However, all mothers on the more disturbed landscape prioritized their resource selection around disturbance features. Mothers whose calves died appeared to select sites closer to well sites, but more strongly avoided cut blocks and recent wildfire burns. I suggest that disturbance features introduce novel costs and rewards that are not traditionally evaluated on undisturbed landscapes, wherein caribou are required to effectively evaluate risks attributed to unique features with consequences for calf survival. More broadly, my research links the mechanisms that drive changes in habitat selection on changing landscapes with implications for species distributions, population dynamics, and evolutionary changes.

Examining how Spatial-temporal Interactions Between Predators Influence the Distribution, Vigilance, and Survival of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawns

Download Examining how Spatial-temporal Interactions Between Predators Influence the Distribution, Vigilance, and Survival of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawns PDF Online Free

Author : Asia Murphy
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (125 download)

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Book Synopsis Examining how Spatial-temporal Interactions Between Predators Influence the Distribution, Vigilance, and Survival of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawns by : Asia Murphy

Download or read book Examining how Spatial-temporal Interactions Between Predators Influence the Distribution, Vigilance, and Survival of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus Virginianus) Fawns written by Asia Murphy and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Predator-prey interactions are among one of the most important community-structuring interspecific relationships. It is well known that predators have direct (i.e., consumptive) effects (CEs), influencing population density [1] and survival [2, 3], and indirect (i.e., non-consumptive) effects (NCEs) on prey. Typically, NCEs are caused by the prey's antipredator behaviors, and can range from changes in distribution and habitat use [4-8] to changes in morphology [9] and decreased reproductive success and recruitment [10-13] to increased vigilance and group size [14, 15]. Based on their strength, CEs and NCEs can scale up to affecting entire ecosystems through trophic cascades [16, 17]. Antipredator behaviors are often tied to the prey's perception of predation risk, which is the probability of prey encountering a predator and/or being killed [7] and varies across space and time [18, 19]. Prey perception of predation risk is based on predator identity and hunting style [20-23], and prey often connect the risk of being killed by an ambush predator to specific habitat features [4], while the risk of being killed by a wide-ranging predator is often not tied to habitat features [17], although these types of predators might find more success in open habitats [24]. This suggests that prey will use different antipredator strategies to avoid different predators. Whereas prey might avoid risky habitats when avoiding ambush predators, prey might avoid being active and/or increase vigilance during risky hours when coursing predators might be active and hunting [25]. While many studies focus on the effect of a single predator on prey [i.e., 8], in most ecological communities, there are often multiple predators preying on the same species [26-28]. The number of predatory species in an ecological community can influence the strength of predator effects on prey [27, 29]. If the antipredator strategies that prey use to reduce predation risk by one predator indirectly increases its chance of being killed by another predator [i.e., predator faciliation; 30], predators can more effectively suppress prey populations [29, 31]. Prey in multi-predator systems often seem unable to completely avoid all predators, and instead focus their energies on using antipredator behaviors meant to avoid predators in order of lethality [32]. The interactions between predators, and the interactions between predators and humans, can also influence predation pressure on prey [33]. A comprehensive study on antipredator behavior and survival in a multi-predator system would determine not only the spatiotemporal distributions, antipredator behavior, and survival probability of the prey, but the spatiotemporal distributions of the predators. The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are culturally and economically important species across much of the United States [34] in Pennsylvania. The number one cause of mortality in white-tailed deer fawns is predation [3, 35]; in Pennsylvania, black bears (Ursus americanus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and bobcats (Lynx rufus; Vreeland et al. 2004, McLean et al. 2005) are all known to prey on fawns. All three predators use different habitats [37-39], can be active at different times [40-42], and have different hunting styles [43, 44], creating a landscape of predation risk that varies spatially and temporally [45]. In addition, these predators--particularly coyotes and bobcats [46-48]--can compete with and influence the habitat use and activity patterns of the other predators, further complicating the landscape that fawns must navigate to survive. While this landscape of multi-predator predation risk has been characterized before for white-tailed deer fawns [see 49, 50], no one has attempted to do so in Pennsylvania. In this dissertation, I examine how habitat relationships (Chapter 1) and spatiotemporal interactions of and between humans, fawns, black bears, coyotes, and bobcats influence the vigilance (Chapter 2) and survival (Chapter 3) of fawns during their first three months of life. In Chapter 1, I find that differing matrix types can influence the similarity of coyote and fawn habitat use. In Chapter 2, I posit that the risk allocation hypothesis can explain why a number of studies--including my own--have found that, in more anthropogenically disturbed habitats, species that would normally avoid spatiotemporal overlap with each other increase in spatiotemporal overlap. In Chapter 3, I estimate fawn survival, examine its relationship to fawn antipredator behavior and habitat, and find that data from camera trap surveys could be a feasible alternative to radio-collaring when the goal is to estimate fawn survival. My research provides new insights into species interactions are influenced by anthropogenic disturbance and a template for noninvasively and inexpensively examining these interactions.

Wildlife Disease Ecology

Author : Kenneth Wilson
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1107136563
Total Pages : 693 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (71 download)

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Book Synopsis Wildlife Disease Ecology by : Kenneth Wilson

Download or read book Wildlife Disease Ecology written by Kenneth Wilson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-11-14 with total page 693 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduces readers to key case studies that illustrate how theory and data can be integrated to understand wildlife disease ecology.

Cumulative Effects of Human Landscape Change, Predators, and Natural Habitat Drive Distributions of an Invasive Ungulate

Author : Siobhan Darlington
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (119 download)

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Book Synopsis Cumulative Effects of Human Landscape Change, Predators, and Natural Habitat Drive Distributions of an Invasive Ungulate by : Siobhan Darlington

Download or read book Cumulative Effects of Human Landscape Change, Predators, and Natural Habitat Drive Distributions of an Invasive Ungulate written by Siobhan Darlington and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human footprint - in which land is converted for human use - is a leading contributor to global habitat and biodiversity loss. The accelerated rate of human landscape change to meet our growing needs has led to the direct loss of critical habitat and shifts in species distributions, interactions, and behaviour. These altered conditions affect species' ability to adapt to environmental stressors, while some species thrive and others decline. In North America, one ungulate has successfully invaded new habitat in conjunction with human land use - the white-tailed deer. Across the continent, the invasion of white-tailed deer has led to increased competition with other ungulate species including mule deer, moose, and woodland caribou. In regions with abundant apex predators, they have become a source of primary prey as their populations increase. The mechanisms by which deer occupy landscapes in the northern extents of their geographic range are not well studied outside of the winter months, or how deer respond behaviourally to various types of human disturbance in a predator-rich environment. To address these knowledge gaps, I examined population scale resource selection across seasons and individual movement behaviour in white-tailed deer in northeastern Alberta's intensively developed oil and gas landscape. I used previously developed models of predator frequency to spatially extrapolate wolf and black bear occurrence across my study region as indicators of indirect predation risk. I used two approaches to habitat modeling to examine deer responses to various modes of human landscape change, including roads, seismic lines, and cut blocks in addition to predators and natural habitat. Deer were best described by cumulative effects - or the combination of all of these factors - across all seasons with proximity to linear features explaining the most variation among the parameters tested. Most prominently in winter, deer strongly selected for habitat features expected to contain abundant natural sources of forage, and linear features, despite a potential increased risk of predation by wolves - suggesting that deer make energetic trade-offs between forage availability and predation risk. At the individual level, deer significantly increased their rate of movement when occupying habitat associated with predation risk. I suggest that deer make greater energetic trade-offs during winter when mobility is limited to evade predators and energetic costs are higher. The continued use of anthropogenic features post-winter, increased rate of movement and spread of landscape occupancy by deer may allude to the importance of human disturbance in maintaining deer in northern climates. Linear corridors may be an important mechanism by which deer are able to successfully colonize new areas at the northern extents of their range. My results shed light on the drivers of deer distributions in human altered landscapes for managing populations where the invasion of deer is complicit in the decline of other ungulate species such as woodland caribou in Alberta's boreal forest.

The Roles of Spatial Scale and Landscape Change in Mediating Predator Effects on Stream Fish Communities

Author : Lindsey Ann Bruckerhoff
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis The Roles of Spatial Scale and Landscape Change in Mediating Predator Effects on Stream Fish Communities by : Lindsey Ann Bruckerhoff

Download or read book The Roles of Spatial Scale and Landscape Change in Mediating Predator Effects on Stream Fish Communities written by Lindsey Ann Bruckerhoff and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The role of predators in ecosystems has not only intrigued and puzzled ecologists over time, but predators are charismatic icons of conservation whose status indicates threats of global change. Through habitat alteration and fragmentation, climate change, and species introductions, predation pressure has been altered globally through the loss of apex predators, introduction of predators, and changes in predator distributions and abundance. While we know predators can influence ecosystems through top-down processes, managing changes in predation pressure requires quantifying effects of predators at scales relevant to management and conservation. In lotic systems, scales relevant to management often span across drainage basins, so predator effects must be quantified across stream networks. Because lotic communities also respond to landscape change, understanding the role of predators across stream networks requires careful consideration of local and broad scale abiotic factors influencing both predators and prey. I combined simulated, experimental, and observational data to 1) assess sampling strategies to determine effects of landscape change on stream fish communities, 2) measure changes in predator consumption rates across spatial scales and the role of prey behavior in driving scaling relationships, and 3) quantify the relationship between the presence of predators and stream fish community structure while controlling for abiotic variability across stream networks. In chapter 2, I compared how the distribution of sample sites (completely random, highly skewed, or uniform distributions) across landscape gradients influenced variability in measured responses of stream fish community metrics. Strong responses (species richness) to environmental gradients were robust to sample distributions, but large sample size and uniform distributions of samples across gradients were necessary to quantify more complex ecological responses (community composition). In chapter 3, I conducted a mesocosm study to quantify differences in per capita consumption across different arena sizes and measured three aspects of prey behavior hypothesized to be important in driving consumption rates: aggregation, movement, and spatial overlap with predators. Per capita consumption was highest in the largest arena relative to the smallest. I hypothesize the positive relationship between consumption and spatial scale was driven by lower group vigilance because prey aggregated less in large arenas. In chapter 4, I compared fish community structure, including richness and abundance of species, at sites in which a predatory fish, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), were present or absent. I first identified which abiotic factors, including both natural stream attributes and anthropogenic landscape changes, drove the presence of largemouth bass and stream fish community structure. I then controlled for important abiotic factors to determine relationships between largemouth bass and stream fish community structure. Richness was higher than predicted based on abiotic factors at sites where bass were present. Several species associated with small impoundments exhibited significant co-occurrence patterns with largemouth bass, likely driving the heightened richness at sites with bass. Complex ecological phenomena such as community responses to predators are difficult to measures, especially in the context of landscape change. These studies highlight the importance of thoughtful study design, the scale-dependence of biotic interactions, and challenges of quantifying responses to predators at scales relevant to conservation and management.

Predator-prey Spatiotemporal Interactions in a Multi-use Landscape

Author : Carolyn Rachel Shores
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 101 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (125 download)

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Book Synopsis Predator-prey Spatiotemporal Interactions in a Multi-use Landscape by : Carolyn Rachel Shores

Download or read book Predator-prey Spatiotemporal Interactions in a Multi-use Landscape written by Carolyn Rachel Shores and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 101 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Apex predators can influence ecosystems by changing the density and behavior of herbivores and other predators. As an ecosystem superpredator, humans may also shape top-down effects in ecological communities by altering apex predator abundance and behavior. In many parts of the world, apex predators live in, or are returning to, landscapes that are human dominated. Thus, it is important to understand the ecological role of apex predators in anthropogenic, multi-use landscapes. I used motion-activated camera traps set in a multi-use landscape in northeastern Washington to compare the effects of: 1) wolves (Canis lupus) on spatiotemporal activity patterns of mesopredators and sympatric apex predators; and 2) the effects of hunting and apex predators on the spatiotemporal activity of herbivorous prey. In areas with wolves, other predators used temporal niche partitioning to avoid wolves. Cougars (Puma concolor) and coyotes (Canis latrans) became more active during the daytime, when wolves were least active, which significantly increased their activity overlap with humans. By contrast, bobcats (Lynx rufus) exposed to wolves changed their activity in patterns opposite to coyotes at nighttime and dusk. Although both mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) increased nocturnality significantly during hunting seasons, the deer species showed species-specific spatiotemporal responses to hunting that, in the case of mule deer, deviated from their typical anti-predator behavior. This pushed mule deer, but not white-tailed deer, into greater spatiotemporal overlap with wolves during hunting seasons, and thus may lead to additive mortality on mule deer from increased wolf predation. In conclusion, the top-down effects of wolves on the behavior of their intraguild competitors appear to be resilient to human disturbance in this system. However, effects on their herbivore prey may be overwhelmed by humans during hunting seasons, leading to greater spatiotemporal overlap with predators. More broadly, my findings highlight that temporal behavioral plasticity is an underappreciated aspect of animal behavior that helps animals manage risk and reduce the negative effects of competition. In addition, the top-down effects of apex predators appear to persist in human-dominated landscapes, particularly within the carnivore guild.

Ecology and Behaviour of Wolverine in Yukon [microform]

Author : Vivian Banci
Publisher : National Library of Canada
ISBN 13 : 9780315425613
Total Pages : 356 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (256 download)

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Book Synopsis Ecology and Behaviour of Wolverine in Yukon [microform] by : Vivian Banci

Download or read book Ecology and Behaviour of Wolverine in Yukon [microform] written by Vivian Banci and published by National Library of Canada. This book was released on 1987 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Landscape Effects on Carnivore Community Dynamics in an Agro-prairie Ecosystem

Author : Ty Jordan Werdel
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (139 download)

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Book Synopsis Landscape Effects on Carnivore Community Dynamics in an Agro-prairie Ecosystem by : Ty Jordan Werdel

Download or read book Landscape Effects on Carnivore Community Dynamics in an Agro-prairie Ecosystem written by Ty Jordan Werdel and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Great Plains region has undergone extensive conversion of native prairies to agriculture production and energy development since European colonization. Temperate prairies, including remaining prairies within the Great Plains, are considered among Earth's most imperiled ecosystems. Prairie patches now exist as components of a landscape mosaic proportionately dominated by cultivated agriculture. These contemporary human-modified landscapes may structure species' distributions, influence community dynamics, and supplant established abiotic range-limiting processes. Understanding the direction and scale of these processes, and how they are affected by landscape composition and configuration, is necessary to enhance conservation efforts. Carnivore communities may be most affected by landscape changes due to negative interactions with humans and their inherent biological traits; however, information regarding landscape-scale effects on the existing suite of carnivores in the Great Plains is lacking. I examined how landscape composition and characteristics influenced site occupancy probabilities and turnover rates by swift foxes (Vulpes velox), the spatial and temporal interactions between swift foxes and coyotes (Canis latrans), and carnivore richness in agro-prairie ecosystems. Additionally, I strategically identified native prairie areas to focus conservation and management of remaining swift fox habitat. During 2018-2020, I used detection/non-detection data from camera traps at 381 randomly selected sites distributed throughout a landscape mosaic comprising the westernmost 31 counties (7.16 million ha) of Kansas, USA. I subsequently used presence/absence data from these sites across three years to infer species-specific responses to landscape change and carnivore community dynamics. To evaluate effects of landscape composition and configuration on site occupancy probabilities and turnover rates by swift fox, I used a distance-weighted scale of effect of landscape metrics within multi-season occupancy models. Swift foxes were more likely to occur at sites with moderate landcover diversity within 254.47 ha, greater proportion of shortgrass prairie (7.07 ha) and loamy soil types (0.79 ha), and lower proportions of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) landcover (78.54 ha). Swift foxes were more likely to colonize sites with less diverse landcover, a greater proportion of loamy soil types, and lower proportions of CRP landcover. Swift foxes were insensitive to the proportion of row-crop agriculture surrounding sites (3.14 ha). To evaluate landscape composition effects on swift foxes and coyote (the apex predator in the region) spatiotemporal interactions, I used a Bayesian hierarchical multi-season occupancy model to evaluate spatial interactions, and a coefficient of overlap of temporal activity to assess factors affecting temporal interactions. Mean persistence of swift foxes differed across sites where coyotes were not detected (0.66; SE = 0.001) and where coyotes were detected (0.39; SE=0.001). The coefficient of overlap at sites surrounded by lower proportions of CRP (≥0.10) differed (95% CIs did not overlap) from coefficient of overlap of all other landscape effects. The spatial distribution of swift foxes was positively influenced (Species Interaction Factor [SIF] > 1) by coyote presence through space and time at low proportions of CRP (≤0.04). SIF decreased as proportion of CRP increased; however, Bayesian confidence intervals overlapped SIF = 1, suggesting that swift foxes were spatially distributed independent of coyotes through space and time at greater proportions of CRP (>0.04). I used a structural equation model to test hypotheses of multiple direct and indirect relationships between landscape composition and configuration and prey availability on carnivore richness. My hypothesized model (X2 = 23.92, df = 24, P = 0.47) explained 27% of the variance of carnivore richness. Agriculture, native prairie, landcover diversity, CRP, water availability, prey occurrence, and sampling effort all had direct positive effects on my measure of carnivore richness, while loamy tableland soil had only an indirect effect. To strategically identify native prairie areas for conservation of swift fox habitat, I created a predicted swift fox occupancy map based on my most-supported, stacked single-season occupancy model. I identified predicted occupancy rate (range = 0.01-0.46) where sensitivity equaled specificity (0.09) within a receiver operating characteristic curve, and reclassified the predicted occupancy map to include only predicted occupancy rates >0.09, and again for a more targeted approach with predicted occupancy rates >0.18. These two maps were intersected with a map of grassland proportions >0.60 to identify areas that were expected to have relatively high occupancy and survival rates by swift fox. Swift foxes were more likely to occur at sites with low levels of landscape diversity ([Beta] = -0.411 ± 0.140), greater proportions of native grassland ([Beta] = 0.375 ± 0.154) and loamy tableland soils ([Beta] = 0.944 ± 0.188), and lower proportions of CRP landcover ([Beta] = -1.081 ± 0.360). Identified native grassland conservation areas totaled 84,420.24 ha (mean patch size = 162.66 ha [SE = 29.67]). Conservation areas located on privately owned working lands included 82,703.86 ha, while conservation areas located within the boundaries of federal, state, and non-governmental organizations (NGO) parcels included 1,716.38 ha. My results provide a unique understanding of how landscape composition and configuration, intraguild competition, and prey availability drive carnivore community dynamics in agro-prairie ecosystems. Additionally, my research elucidated constraints to range expansions for an iconic prairie-obligate carnivore (swift fox) at the edge of their range, while also identifying areas for strategic conservation for their populations.

Linkages in the Landscape

Author : Andrew F. Bennett
Publisher : IUCN
ISBN 13 : 2831707447
Total Pages : 261 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (317 download)

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Book Synopsis Linkages in the Landscape by : Andrew F. Bennett

Download or read book Linkages in the Landscape written by Andrew F. Bennett and published by IUCN. This book was released on 2003 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The loss and fragmentation of natural habitats is one of the major issues in wildlife management and conservation. Habitat "corridors" are sometimes proposed as an important element within a conservation strategy. Examples are given of corridors both as pathways and as habitats in their own right. Includes detailed reviews of principles relevant to the design and management of corridors, their place in regional approaches to conservation planning, and recommendations for research and management.

Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change

Author : David B. Lindenmayer
Publisher : Island Press
ISBN 13 : 159726606X
Total Pages : 349 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (972 download)

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Book Synopsis Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change by : David B. Lindenmayer

Download or read book Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change written by David B. Lindenmayer and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2013-02-22 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat loss and degradation that comes as a result of human activity is the single biggest threat to biodiversity in the world today. Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change is a groundbreaking work that brings together a wealth of information from a wide range of sources to define the ecological problems caused by landscape change and to highlight the relationships among landscape change, habitat fragmentation, and biodiversity conservation. The book: synthesizes a large body of information from the scientific literature considers key theoretical principles for examining and predicting effects examines the range of effects that can arise explores ways of mitigating impacts reviews approaches to studying the problem discusses knowledge gaps and future areas for research and management Habitat Fragmentation and Landscape Change offers a unique mix of theoretical and practical information, outlining general principles and approaches and illustrating those principles with case studies from around the world. It represents a definitive overview and synthesis on the full range of topics that fall under the widely used but often vaguely defined term "habitat fragmentation."

Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions

Author : Pedro Barbosa
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019988367X
Total Pages : 709 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (998 download)

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Book Synopsis Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions by : Pedro Barbosa

Download or read book Ecology of Predator-Prey Interactions written by Pedro Barbosa and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-08-11 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the fundamental issues of predator-prey interactions, with an emphasis on predation among arthropods, which have been better studied, and for which the database is more extensive than for the large and rare vertebrate predators. The book should appeal to ecologists interested in the broad issue of predation effects on communities.

Fear in Wildlife Food Webs

Author : Justin Suraci
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (948 download)

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Book Synopsis Fear in Wildlife Food Webs by : Justin Suraci

Download or read book Fear in Wildlife Food Webs written by Justin Suraci and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mounting evidence suggests that large carnivores regulate the abundance and diversity of species at multiple trophic levels through cascading top-down effects. The fear large carnivores inspire in their prey may be a critical component of these top-down effects, buffering lower trophic levels from overconsumption by suppressing large herbivore and mesopredator foraging. However, the evidence that the fear of large carnivores cascades through food webs has been repeatedly challenged because it remains experimentally untested. My collaborators and I exploited a natural experiment 'the presence or absence of mesopredator raccoons (Procyon lotor) on islands in the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada' to examine the breadth of mesopredator impacts in a system from which all native large carnivores have been extirpated. By comparing prey abundance on islands with and without raccoons, we found significant negative effects of raccoon presence on terrestrial (songbirds and corvids), intertidal (crabs and fish) and shallow subtidal (red rock crabs Cancer productus) prey, demonstrating that, in the absence of native large carnivores, mesopredator impacts on islands can extend across ecosystem boundaries to affect both terrestrial and marine communities. To test whether fear of large carnivores can mitigate these community-level impacts of mesopredators, we experimentally manipulated fear in free-living raccoon populations using month-long playbacks of large carnivore vocalizations and monitored the effects on raccoon behaviour and the intertidal community. Fear of large carnivores reduced raccoon foraging to the benefit of the raccoon's prey, which in turn affected a competitor and prey of the raccoon's prey. By experimentally restoring the fear of large carnivores in our study system, we succeeded in reversing the impacts of raccoons, reinforcing the need to protect large carnivores given the conservation benefits the fear of them provides.Our experimental work demonstrated that fine-scale behavioural changes in prey in response to predation risk can have community-level effects relevant to biodiversity conservation. However, experimentally testing animal responses to predators and other sources of risk in free-living wildlife presents considerable logistical challenges. To address these challenges, my collaborators and I developed an Automated Behavioural Response system, which integrates playback experiments into camera trap studies, allowing researchers to collect experimental data from wildlife populations without requiring the presence of an observer. Here I describe tests of this system in Uganda, Canada and the USA, and discuss novel research opportunities in ecology and conservation biology made available by this new technology.

River Network Structure

Author : Catherine L. Hein
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (43 download)

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Book Synopsis River Network Structure by : Catherine L. Hein

Download or read book River Network Structure written by Catherine L. Hein and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A landscape perspective is critically important for understanding community structure, particularly in systems dominated by migratory fauna. I aimed to understand how the structure of riverscapes in Puerto Rico mediates potential anthropogenic impacts, predator-prey interactions, and the migratory behavior of a diadromous species. I surveyed fishes and shrimps at sites throughout two watersheds, designed transplant experiments that investigated the role of natural barriers on predator-prey interactions, and developed models of shrimp migration specific to a particular river network. I did not detect an effect of anthropogenic changes to the landscape on fish and shrimp species distributions in two watersheds that drain the Luquillo Experimental Forest. These communities were primarily affected by the position of natural barriers: predatory fish distributions were limited by waterfalls and most shrimp species were found upstream from fish barriers. Thus, steep terrain mediated predator-prey interactions between fishes and shrimps, with one shrimp (Atya lanipes) likely avoiding predation by migrating iv above fish barriers. Lab and field experiments provided the first mechanistic evidence for landscape-level predator-avoidance behavior by A. lanipes. Both postlarval and adult shrimp avoided the scent of three predatory fish species in a y-maze fluvarium. In natural streams above fish barriers, adult A. lanipes did not respond to the addition of fish scent, but adult abundances did decline when fish were added to in-stream cages. To integrate our ideas about how shrimp behaviors scale up to observed adult A. lanipes distributions across the landscape, we developed a set of nested models specific to a particular river network. The best models parameterized branch choice at nodes within the river network to be heavily weighted toward particular mid-elevation tributaries above fish barriers. Our models indicated that distance traveled above and below fish barriers had little effect on adult distributions. Because the number of migrants decreases with distance upstream, the latter result was likely an artifact of the model. In montane river systems with migratory fauna, scientists would benefit by creatively designing new experiments and models that incorporate river network structure, as this is the template upon which all processes occur.

Wildland Fire in Ecosystems

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 92 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (243 download)

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Book Synopsis Wildland Fire in Ecosystems by :

Download or read book Wildland Fire in Ecosystems written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology

Author : Almo Farina
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1402055358
Total Pages : 412 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology by : Almo Farina

Download or read book Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology written by Almo Farina and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-01-22 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Landscape ecology is an integrative and multi-disciplinary science and Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology reconciles the geological, botanical, zoological and human perspectives. In particular ,new paradigms and theories such as percolation, metapopulation, hierarchies, source-sink models have been integrated in this last edition with the recent theories on bio-complexity, information and cognitive sciences. Methods for studying landscape ecology are covered including spatial geometry models and remote sensing in order to create confidence toward techniques and approaches that require a high experience and long-time dedication. Principles and Methods in Landscape Ecology is a textbook useful to present the landscape in a multi-vision perspective for undergraduate and graduate students of biology, ecology, geography, forestry, agronomy, landscape architecture and planning. Sociology, economics, history, archaeology, anthropology, ecological psychology are some sciences that can benefit of the holistic vision offered by this texbook.

Patterns of Carnivore Competition, Time-to-kill, and Predation Risk on White-tailed Deer Fawns in a Multi-predator Landscape

Author : Tyler Robert Petroelje
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (133 download)

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Book Synopsis Patterns of Carnivore Competition, Time-to-kill, and Predation Risk on White-tailed Deer Fawns in a Multi-predator Landscape by : Tyler Robert Petroelje

Download or read book Patterns of Carnivore Competition, Time-to-kill, and Predation Risk on White-tailed Deer Fawns in a Multi-predator Landscape written by Tyler Robert Petroelje and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Identifying factors influencing kill rates or predation risk is crucial to relate predator effects on prey populations. In multi-predator landscapes, some predators may also perceive predation risk which may not only influence their distributions but also their effects on prey populations across landscapes. In the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) exist in a multi-predator landscape which includes black bears (Ursus americanus), bobcats (Lynx rufus), coyotes (Canis latrans), and gray wolves (C. lupus). The objectives of this research were to examine spatial relationships among predators and their prey by identifying: 1) competition between wolves and coyotes, 2) factors influencing kill rates of predators, and 3) predator-specific predation risk for white-tailed deer fawns. We quantified the degree of temporal, dietary, and spatial overlap of wolves and coyotes at the population level to estimate the potential for interference competition and identify the mechanisms for how these sympatric canids coexist. We observed significant overlap across resource attributes yet the mechanisms through which wolves and coyotes coexist appear to be driven largely by how coyotes exploit differences in resource availability in heterogenous landscapes. We examined how heterogeneity in landscapes, search rate, and prey availability influence the time between kills for black bears, bobcats, coyotes, and wolves. Spatial heterogeneity in prey availability appeared to be a unifying extrinsic factor mediating time-to-kill across predators, potentially a consequence of more frequent reassessments of patch quality, which can reduce kill rates. We used white-tailed deer fawn predation sites to identify predator-specific predation risk with consideration for active predator occurrence, adult female white-tailed deer occurrence, linear features which may influence prey vulnerability, and habitat characteristics including horizontal cover and deer forage availability. Predator occurrence alone was a poor metric for predation risk. We identified differing landscapes of risk among ambush and cursorial foraging strategies which were more important for defining spatial variation in predation risk than predator density. These findings suggest that in a multi-predator landscape some predators may benefit from greater landscape heterogeneity due to availability of niche space, even though resource heterogeneity reduced predator efficacy and habitat complexity reduced predation risk for prey.

Management of Large Mammalian Carnivores in North America

Author : The Wildlife Society
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781937504106
Total Pages : 78 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (41 download)

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Book Synopsis Management of Large Mammalian Carnivores in North America by : The Wildlife Society

Download or read book Management of Large Mammalian Carnivores in North America written by The Wildlife Society and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 78 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This review addresses the current management of larger mammalian carnivores to increase, maintain, or reduce their numbers, while taking into account the population of certain ungulate prey and their relation to predators, social pressures and attitudes of the public towards predators, and the effects of sport hunting and trapping on carnivore population dynamics. This review considers brown bears "(Ursus arctos," black bears "(U. americanus)," coyotes "(Canis latrans)," wolves "(Canis lupus, C. lycaon)," and mountain lions "(Felis concolor." The appendix presents the results of a statistical analysis of trends discussed in this report.