Prey size mediates interference competition and predation dynamics in a large carnivore community

被引:0
作者
Rabe, Jack W. [1 ,2 ]
Binder, Wesley J. [2 ,3 ]
Anton, Colby B. [4 ]
Meyer, Connor J. [5 ]
Metz, Matthew C. [2 ]
Smith, Brian J. [6 ,7 ]
Ruth, Toni K. [8 ]
Murphy, Kerry M. [9 ]
Bump, Joseph K. [1 ]
Smith, Douglas W. [2 ]
Stahler, Daniel R. [2 ]
机构
[1] Univ Minnesota Twin Cities, Dept Fisheries Wildlife & Conservat Biol, St Paul, MN 55108 USA
[2] Yellowstone Ctr Resources, Yellowstone Natl Pk, Mammoth Hot Springs, WY 82190 USA
[3] Oregon State Univ, Dept Fisheries Wildlife & Conservat Sci, Corvallis, OR USA
[4] Montana Dept Fish Wildlife & Pk, Missoula, MT USA
[5] Univ Montana, Dept Ecosyst & Conservat Sci, Wildlife Biol Program, Missoula, MT USA
[6] Utah State Univ, Dept Wildland Resources, Logan, UT USA
[7] Utah State Univ, Ecol Ctr, Logan, UT USA
[8] Nature Conservancy, Idaho Conservat Program, Hailey, ID USA
[9] US Forest Serv, Bridger Teton Natl Forest, Jackson, WY USA
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
AFRICAN WILD DOGS; WOLF KILL RATES; INTRAGUILD PREDATION; POPULATION-DYNAMICS; YELLOWSTONE; PATTERNS; FACILITATION; SELECTION; SYSTEM; BEARS;
D O I
10.1038/s42003-025-07779-5
中图分类号
Q [生物科学];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
Direct competition for resources is especially fierce among predators, leading to disproportionately strong effects on fitness and functional roles. These competitive effects are exacerbated in complex predator guilds with dominance hierarchies that have clear winners and losers. The direct costs of losing these competitions are well understood, but the drivers of such interactions, and their indirect effects on prey, are not. We evaluate the drivers of interference competition for cougars, and how such competition affects cougar-prey dynamics, by leveraging 23 years of cougar predation data from Yellowstone National Park, USA. We show that the effect of prey size is context-dependent, negatively affecting how often cougars kill ungulate prey but positively affecting how often wolves/bears find and steal cougar kills. Further, cougars increasingly kill smaller prey as larger, primary prey density decreases. Handling time is shorter for smaller prey, leading to less kleptoparasitism by wolves and bears when primary prey density is lower. Our study counters the theory suggesting that interference competition should increase at kills when prey density declines, interspecific competitor density increases, or kill rates increase. We demonstrate that predator, competitor, and prey traits drive the strength of and even dampen interference competition, possibly increasing coexistence in complex communities.
引用
收藏
页数:13
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