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1,551 results for “prey”
Inferring predator-prey interactions from camera traps: A Bayesian co-abundance modelling approach
<p><span>Predator-prey dynamics are a fundamental part of ecology, but directly studying interactions has proven difficult. The proliferation of camera trapping has enabled the collection of large datasets on wildlife, but researchers face hurdles inferring interactions from observational data. </span><span>Recent advances in </span><span>hierarchical c</span><span>o-abundance models infer species interactions while </span><span>accounting for two species' detection probabilities, shared responses to environmental covariates, and propagate uncertainty throughout the</span> <span>entire modelling process. However, current approaches remain </span><span>unsuitable for interacting species </span><span>whose natural densities differ by an order of magnitude and have contrasting detection probabilities, such as predator-prey interactions, which introduce zero-inflation and overdispersion in count histories. </span><span>Here we developed </span><span>a Bayesian hierarchical N-mixture co-abundance model that is </span><span>suitable for </span><span>inferring </span><span>predator-prey </span><span>interactions. We accounted for excessive zeros in count histories using an informed zero-inflated Poisson distribution in the abundance formula and accounted for overdispersion in count histories by including a random effect per sampling unit and sampling occasion in the detection probability formula. We demonstrate that models with these modifications outperform alternative approaches, improve model goodness-of-fit, and overcome parameter convergence failures. We highlight its utility using 20 camera trapping datasets </span><span>from 10 tropical forest landscapes in Southeast Asia and estimate four predator-prey relationships between tigers, clouded leopards, and muntjac and sambar deer. Tigers had a negative effect on muntjac abundance, providing support for top-down regulation, while clouded leopards had a positive effect on muntjac and sambar deer, likely driven by shared responses to unmodelled covariates like hunting. </span><span>This Bayesian co-abundance modelling approach to quantify predator-prey relationships </span><span>is widely applicable across species, ecosystems, and sampling approaches, and may be useful in forecasting cascading impacts following widespread predator declines. Taken together, this approach facilitates a nuanced and mechanistic understanding of food-web ecology.</span></p>
Data from: Functionally redundant multimodal predator cues elicit changes in prey foraging behavior
<p><span>Many prey species can assess the risk of predation from information acquired through different sensory systems. For many animals, this information is detected with sensory organs specialized for visual (sight) or chemical (smell or taste) stimuli. It is unclear, however, whether information acquired through multiple sensory systems is functionally redundant or interchangeable, especially if the message is the same. Here we assess prey response to unimodal visual and chemical cues as well as multimodal (visual + chemical) cues. We specifically test if a foraging individual shows a stronger behavioral response to risk when they can perceive that risk through multimodal versus unimodal cues. To do this, we measured the functional response (prey abundance-foraging rate relationship) of Tibellus oblongus spiders foraging on midges while exposing them to visual stimuli, chemical stimuli, or a combination of both visual and chemical stimuli from potential predators. We then determined if the spider's functional response for the multimodal treatment differed more strongly from a control treatment than from either unimodal treatment. We found that under any simulated predation risk (multimodal and both unimodal), T. oblongus spiders showed longer handling times than in control groups without risk. </span><span>However, we saw no elevated anti-predator response in the multimodal treatment, suggesting that information from visual and chemical modalities is interchangeable and sufficient to indicate reliably predation risk. </span></p>
Time to independence and predator-prey relationships of wild-born, captive-raised cheetahs released into private reserves in Namibia
<p><strong>Data associated with the manuscript:</strong></p> <p>Marker, L., Schmidt-Küntzel, A., Walker, E. H., Nghikembua, M., Cristescu, B. Time to independence and predator-prey relationships of wild-born, captive-raised cheetahs released into private reserves in Namibia. Ecological Solutions and Evidence.</p> <p><strong>Contact:</strong></p> <p>Dr. Bogdan Cristescu</p> <p>bogdan@cheetah.org</p> <p><strong>Description:</strong></p> <p>This manuscript estimated the time to independence and cheetah-prey relationships for cheetahs released onto three private reserves in Namibia. The cheetahs were rescued as wild-born cubs, were raised in captivity and went through a rehabilitation process at the Cheetah Conservation Fund, Namibia, and then released with collars to monitor their success post-release in the wild.</p> <p>The data is a MS Excel file that includes separate spreadsheets for:</p> <p>- Time to independence ("TimeToIndependence"): number of weekly supplemental feedings of cheetahs post-release before achieving independence</p> <p>- Prey composition ("PreyComposition"): the species, sex, age class, and size class of prey that cheetahs killed and were recorded during monitoring post-release </p> <p>- Prey availability ("PreyAvailability"): the prey species recorded along driven dirt road transects, and which were used to estimate prey density in a distance sampling framework </p> <p>- Habitat use ("HabitatUse"): the number of kills made by released cheetahs that have associated habitat class information, partitioned by chetah reproductive status (SF: solitary female, CF: coalition females, CM: coalition males) </p>
Web decoration is important in mediating foraging site fidelity as well as prey availability and predation risk in an orb-web spider
<p>Animals may consider both biotic and abiotic factors in foraging site choice. Among the biotic factors, food availability and predation risk are two widely reported important factors in determining foraging site fidelity. Their earlier investments, such as those retreat-building species' efforts in retreats construction, however, have been largely ignored. The orb-web spider <em>Cyclosa monticola</em> constructs a long column of masquerading detritus decoration in its web for predator avoidance purpose. This detritus decoration also functions as a retreat. However, the role of the detritus decoration for its foraging site fidelity is unknown. By manipulating three factors, presence of detritus decoration, prey availability, and predation risk to the spider webs in the field, we show that the self-constructed detritus decoration is as important as prey availability and predation risk in mediating web site fidelity. In addition, the web area also has a significant impact to the foraging site fidelity of the spider, those with larger webs were more likely to leave after being manipulated. However, other factors such as spider body size, decoration length, and rain all have no significant impact. Our study may strengthen the current understanding of the movement and foraging of animals, especially those building retreats.</p>
Supplementary files: Social learning of innovations in dynamic predator-prey systems
<p>We investigate social transmission of behavioral innovations between predators in two classic predator-prey models. We assume that innovations increase predator attack rates or conversion efficiencies, or that innovations reduce predator mortality or prey handling time. We find that a common outcome of innovations is the destabilization of the system. Destabilizing effects include increasing oscillations or limit cycles. Particularly, in systems where prey are self-limiting and predators have a Type II functional response, destabilization occurs due to overexploitation of the prey. Whenever instability increases the risk of extinction, innovations that benefit individual predators may not have positive long-term effects on predator populations. An additional consequence of instability is the maintenance of behavioral variability among predators. Interestingly, when predator populations are low despite coexisting with prey populations near their carrying capacity, innovations that could help predators better exploit their prey are least likely to spread. Precisely how unlikely this is depends on whether or not naïve individuals need to observe an informed individual interact with prey to learn the innovation. Our results offer perspective on the potential role of innovation in biological invasions, urban colonization, and the maintenance of behavioral polymorphisms.</p>
Data for: Prey resources are equally important as climatic conditions for predicting the distribution of a broad-ranged apex predator
<p>Aim: A current biogeographic paradigm states that climate regulates species distributions at continental scales and that biotic interactions are undetectable at coarse-grain extents. However, advances in spatial modelling show that incorporating food resource distributions are important for improving model predictions at large distribution scales. This is particularly relevant to understand the factors limiting distribution of widespread apex predators whose diets are likely to vary across their range.</p> <p>Location: Neotropical Central and South America</p> <p>Methods: The harpy eagle (<em>Harpia harpyja</em>) is a large raptor, whose diet is largely comprised of arboreal mammals, all with broad distributions across Neotropical lowland forest. Here, we used a hierarchical modelling approach to determine the relative importance of abiotic factors and prey resource distribution on harpy eagle range limits. Our hierarchical approach consisted of the following modelling sequence of explanatory variables: (a) abiotic covariates, (b) prey resource distributions predicted by an equivalent modelling for each prey, (c) the combination of (a) and (b), and (d) as in (c) but with prey resources considered as a single prediction equivalent to prey species richness.</p> <p>Results: Incorporating prey distributions improved model predictions but using solely biotic covariates still resulted in a high performing model. In the Abiotic model, Climatic Moisture Index (CMI) was the most important predictor, contributing 76 % to model prediction. Three-toed sloth (<em>Bradypus</em> spp.) was the most important prey resource, contributing 64 % in a combined Abiotic-Biotic model, followed by CMI contributing 30 %. Harpy eagle distribution had high environmental overlap across all individual prey distributions, with highest coincidence through Central America, eastern Colombia, and across the Guiana Shield into northern Amazonia. </p> <p>Main conclusions: With strong reliance on prey distributions across its range, harpy eagle conservation programs must therefore consider its most important food resources as a key element in the protection of this threatened raptor.</p>
Data from: Large carnivores avoid humans while prioritizing prey acquisition in anthropogenic areas
<ol> <li>Large carnivores are recovering in many landscapes where the human footprint is simultaneously growing. When carnivores encounter humans, the way they behave often changes, which may subsequently influence how they affect their prey. However, little research investigates the behavioral mechanisms underpinning carnivore response to humans. As a result, it is not clear how predator-prey interactions and their associated ecosystem processes will play out in the human-dominated areas into which carnivore populations are increasingly expanding.</li> <li>We hypothesized that humans would reduce predation risk for prey by disturbing carnivores or threatening their survival. Alternatively, or additionally, we hypothesized that humans would increase predation risk by providing forage resources that congregate herbivorous prey in predictable places and times.</li> <li>Using gray wolves (<em>Canis lupus</em>) in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA as a study species, we investigated 170 kill sites across a spectrum of human influences ranging from heavily restricted human activities on protected federal lands to largely unregulated activities on private lands. Then, we used conditional logistic regression to quantify how the probability of predation changed across varied types and amounts of human influences, while controlling for environmental characteristics and prey availability.</li> <li>Wolves primarily made kills in environmental terrain traps and where prey availability was high, but predation risk was significantly better explained with the inclusion of human influences than by environmental characteristics alone. Different human influences had different, and even converse, effects on the risk of wolf predation. For example, where prey were readily available, wolves preferentially killed animals far from motorized roads but close to unpaved trails. However, wolves responded less strongly to humans, if at all, where prey were scarce, suggesting they prioritized acquiring prey over avoiding human interactions.</li> <li>Overall, our work reveals that the effects of large carnivores on prey populations can vary considerably among different types of human influences, yet carnivores may not appreciably alter predatory behavior in response to humans if prey are difficult to obtain. These results shed new light on the drivers of large carnivore behavior in anthropogenic areas while improving understanding of predator-prey dynamics in and around the wildland-urban interface. </li> </ol>
Octopus bimaculoides visually-evoked prey capture
<p>Octopus limb hyper-redundancy complicates traditional motor control system theory by its extensive sensory inputs, subsequent decision making and arm coordination. Octopus are thought to reduce flexibility control complexity by relying on highly stereotypical motor primitives (e.g. reaching and crawling) and multi-level processes to coordinate movement utilizing extensive peripheral nervous system (PNS) processing. Division of labor along the anterior-posterior axis and limb- specialization of the four anterior arms in T-maze food retrieval further simplify control. Yet, specific arm recruitment and coordination during visually guided reaching behavior remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated visually triggered <em>Octopus bimaculoides</em> hunting capabilities by eliciting and examining prey-specific arm recruitment. When striking crabs, octopus preferred synchronous arm recruitment while sequential arm recruitment with a characteristic swaying movement is employed for shrimp. Such behavioral selection aligns with specific prey escape strategies and the octopus' flexible arm biomechanical constraints. Although side bias existed, we found significant bilateral symmetry, with one side being functionally a mirror of the other rather than anterior arm use being functionally equal and differing to posterior arm use. Among arms, the second limb is unequivocally dominant for goal-directed monocularly driven prey capture. While the eight arms share gross anatomy and are considered equipotential, such arm specialization for specific actions could reflect different degrees of specialization in organismal structures. Finally, we quantitatively show, corroborating earlier observations, that octopus employ a dimension reduction strategy by actively deciding to recruit adjacent arms over other available arms during either sequential or synchronous visually triggered prey attack.</p>
Conspicuous coloration of toxin-resistant predators implicates additional trophic interactions in a predator-prey arms race
<p>Antagonistic coevolution between natural enemies can produce highly exaggerated traits, such as prey toxins and predator resistance. This reciprocal process of adaptation and counter-adaptation may also open doors to other evolutionary novelties not directly involved in the phenotypic interface of coevolution. We tested the hypothesis that predator-prey coevolution coincided with the evolution of conspicuous coloration on resistant predators that retain prey toxins. In western North America, common garter snakes (<em>Thamnophis sirtalis</em>) have evolved extreme resistance to tetrodotoxin (TTX) in the coevolutionary arms race with their deadly prey, Pacific newts (<em>Taricha spp.)</em>. TTX-resistant snakes can retain large amounts of ingested TTX, which could serve as a deterrent against the snakes' own predators if TTX toxicity and resistance are coupled with a conspicuous warning signal. We evaluated whether arms race escalation co-varies with bright red coloration in snake populations across the geographic mosaic of coevolution. Snake color variation departs from the neutral expectations of population genetic structure and co-varies with escalating clines of newt TTX and snake resistance at two coevolutionary hotspots. In the Pacific Northwest, bright red coloration fits an expected pattern of an aposematic warning to avian predators: TTX-resistant snakes that consume highly toxic newts also have relatively large, reddish-orange dorsal blotches. Snake coloration also seems to have evolved with the arms race in California, but overall patterns are less intuitively consistent with aposematism. These results suggest that interactions with additional trophic levels can generate novel traits as a cascading consequence of arms race coevolution across the geographic mosaic.</p>
Feast to famine: Sympatric predators respond differently to seasonal prey scarcity on the low-Arctic tundra
<p>Resource fluctuation is a major driver of animal movement, influencing strategic choices such as residency vs nomadism, or social dynamics. The Arctic tundra is characterized by strong seasonality: resources are abundant during the short summers but scarce in winters. Therefore, expansion of boreal-forest species onto the tundra raises questions on how they cope with winter-resource scarcity. We examined a recent incursion by red foxes (<em>Vulpes</em> <em>vulpes</em>) onto the coastal tundra of northern Manitoba, an area historically occupied by Arctic foxes (<em>Vulpes</em> <em>lagopus</em>) that lacks access to anthropogenic foods, and compared seasonal shifts in space use of the two species. We used 4 years of telemetry data following 8 red foxes and 11 Arctic foxes to test the hypothesis that the movement tactics of both species are primarily driven by temporal variability of resources. We also predicted that the harsh tundra conditions in winter would drive red foxes to disperse more often and maintain larger home ranges year-round than Arctic foxes, which are adapted to this environment. Dispersal was the most frequent winter movement tactic in both fox species, despite its association with high mortality (winter mortality was 9.4 times higher in dispersers than residents). Red foxes consistently dispersed towards the boreal forest, whereas Arctic foxes primarily used sea ice to disperse. Home range size of red and Arctic foxes did not differ in summer, but resident red foxes substantially increased their home range size in winter, whereas home range size of resident Arctic foxes did not change seasonally. As climate changes, abiotic constraints on some species may relax, but associated declines in prey communities may lead to local extirpation of many predators, notably by favoring dispersal during resource scarcity.</p>
Data and code for: A healthy but depleted herd: predators decrease prey disease and density
<p>The healthy herds hypothesis proposes that predators can reduce parasite prevalence and thereby increase density of their prey. However, evidence for such predator-driven reductions in prevalence in prey remains mixed. Furthermore, even less evidence supports increases in prey density during epidemics. Here, we used a planktonic predator-prey-parasite system to experimentally test the healthy herds hypothesis. We manipulated density of a predator (the phantom midge, <em>Chaoborus</em> <em>punctipennis</em>) and parasitism (the virulent fungus <em>Metschnikowia</em> <em>bicuspidata</em>) in experimental assemblages. Because we know natural populations of the prey (<em>Daphnia</em> <em>dentifera</em>) vary in susceptibility to both predator and parasite, we stocked experimental populations with nine genotypes spanning a broad range of susceptibility to both enemies. Predation significantly reduced infection prevalence, eliminating infection at the highest predation level. However, lower parasitism did not increase densities of prey; instead, prey density decreased substantially at the highest predation levels (a major density cost of healthy herds predation). This density result was predicted by <span>a model parameterized for this system. The model specifies three conditions for predation to increase prey density during epidemics: (i) predators selectively feed on infected prey, (ii) consumed infected prey release fewer infectious propagules than unconsumed prey, and (iii) sufficiently low infection prevalence. While the system satisfied the first two conditions, prevalence remained too high to see an increase in prey density with predation. </span>Low prey densities caused by high predation drove increases in algal resources of the prey, fueling greater reproduction, indicating that consumer-resource interactions can complicate predator-prey-parasite dynamics. Overall, in our experiment, predation reduced prevalence of a virulent parasite but, at the highest levels, also reduced prey density. Hence, while healthy herds predation is possible under some conditions, our empirical results make it clear that manipulation of predators to reduce parasite prevalence may harm prey density.</p>
Optimal prey for red fox cubs – an example of dual optimizing foraging strategy in foxes from a dynamic wetland habitat
<p>The red fox (<em>Vulpes</em> <em>vulpes</em>) is the most abundant mesopredator in the Central-European region. Detailed knowledge about their feeding behavior is important both from ecological and wildlife management reasons. Food choices of foxes are poorly predictable in high-biodiversity marshlands. The main aim of our study was to sample parallel the main food-type abundances in the study area and analyze the diet of fox cubs and cohabiting adults across three years during the period of maternal dependence of the cubs. According to the optimal foraging theory, we predicted that the cubs' diet would show higher energy content, would be more varied, and the individual prey species fed to the young would be larger. We analyzed the composition of adult fox and cub fecal samples collected separately around dens in a marshland of western Hungary, May 2014, 2017 and 2020, when the abundance values of main food sources differed. Rodents and waterfowl dominated the diet, but their relative occurrence in the samples showed yearly variations. We found that vixens follow a dual optimizing foraging strategy regarding their provisioning of the cubs and their own diet. Adult foxes optimized their diet according to the actual yearly abundances of their main food sources. Additionally, they preferred prey items that can be consumed at the site of capture (large carrion and small individual prey items). Cubs on the other hand were provisioned with optimal high-energy food, even if those in question became less abundant in that year. Vixens mostly fed to their young either larger rodents and waterfowl, or multiple small rodents at a time – these types of prey are both optimal for transportation as a single load. Providing optimal prey at an early age in a changing environment may contribute to the ecological success of the red fox.</p>
Data from: Evidence for the Predator Attraction Hypothesis in an amphibian predator-prey system
<p>Many species possess damage-released chemical alarm cues that function in alerting nearby individuals to a predator attack. One hypothesis for the evolution and/or maintenance of such cues is the Predator Attraction Hypothesis, where predators, rather than prey, are the 'intended' recipients of these cues. If a predator attack attracts additional predators, these secondary predators might interfere with the predation event, providing the prey with a better chance to escape. In this study, we conducted two experiments to explore this hypothesis in an amphibian predator/prey system. In Experiment 1, we found that tiger salamanders (<em>Ambystoma</em> <em>mavortium</em>) showed a foraging attraction to chemical cues from wood frog (<em>Lithobates</em> <em>sylvaticus</em>) tadpoles. Salamanders that were experienced with tadpole prey, in particular, were strongly attracted to tadpole alarm cues. In Experiment 2, we observed experimental encounters between a tadpole and either one or two salamanders. The presence of the second predator caused salamanders to increase attack speed at the cost of decreased attack accuracy (i.e., increasing the probability that the tadpole would escape attacks). We also found that the mere presence of visual and chemical cues from a second predator did not affect this speed/accuracy trade-off but did cause enough of a distraction to increase tadpole survival. Thus, our findings are thus consistent with the Predator Attraction Hypothesis for the evolution and/or maintenance of alarm cues.</p>
When death comes: Linking predator-prey activity patterns to timing of mortality to understand predation risk
<p>The assumption that activity and foraging are risky for prey underlies many predator-prey theories and has led to the use of predator-prey activity overlap as a proxy of predation risk. However, the simultaneous measures of prey and predator activity along with timing of predation required to test this assumption have not been available. Here, we used accelerometry data on snowshoe hares (<em>Lepus</em> <em>americanus</em>) and Canada lynx (<em>Lynx canadensis)</em> to determine activity patterns of prey and predators and match these to precise timing of predation. Surprisingly, we found that lynx kills of hares were as likely to occur during the day when hares were inactive as at night when hares were active. We also found that activity rates of hares were not related to the chance of predation at daily and weekly scales, whereas lynx activity rates positively affected the diel pattern of lynx predation on hares and their weekly kill rates of hares. Our findings suggest that predator-prey diel activity overlap may not always be a good proxy of predation risk, and highlight a need for examining the link between predation and spatiotemporal behavior of predator and prey to improve our understanding of how predator-prey behavioral interactions drive predation risk.</p>
Experimental feeding validates nanofluidic array technology for DNA detection of ungulate prey in wolf scats
<p><span>The study of carnivores' diet is a key component to enhance knowledge on the ecology of predators and their effect on prey populations. Although molecular approaches to detect prey DNA in carnivore scats are improving, the validation of their accuracy, a prerequisite for reliable applications within ecological frameworks, is still lagging behind the methodological advances. Indeed, variation in detection probability among prey species can occur, representing a potentially insidious source of bias in food-habit studies of carnivores. Calibration of DNA-based methods involves the optimization of specificity and sensitivity and, whereas priority is usually given to the former to avoid false positives, sensitivity is rarely investigated so that false negatives may be largely overlooked. </span></p> <p><span>We conducted feeding trials with captive wolves (</span><em><span>Canis lupus</span></em><span>) to validate a nanofluidic array technology recently developed for detection of multiple prey species in scats. Using 371 scat samples from 12 wolves fed with a single-prey diet, the sensitivity of our nanofluidic array method varied between 0.45 and 0.95 for the six main ungulate prey species. The method sensitivity was enhanced by using multiple markers per species and by a relatively low threshold for the number of amplifying markers required to confirm a detection. Yet, at least two markers should be used to avoid false positives. By acknowledging sources of bias in sensitivity to reliably interpret results of DNA-based dietary methods, our study highlights the relevance of feeding experiments to optimally calibrate the relative thresholds to define a positive detection and investigate occurrence and extent of biases in sensitivity.</span></p>
Prey availability influences the effect of boldness on reproductive success in a mammalian predator
<p>Boldness is an important trait in wild populations and among-individual differences can link to individual fitness<span>. </span>The strength and direction of relationships between behavioral and life-history traits may however vary according to environmental conditions, where fluctuating selection acting on behavioral traits contributes to the maintenance of personality differences. <span>We </span>explored sources of variation in <span>Arctic fox (<em>Vulpes</em> <em>lagopus</em>) boldness </span>and <span>investigated how temporal variation in the abundance of a main prey (lemmings) influences the relationship between fox boldness and reproductive success. We measured the behavioral reaction of individuals when escaping after handling, as an indicator of their boldness. We obtained 70 measurements from 42 individuals </span>during two years of low lemming abundance and two years of high lemming abundance<span> and assessed fox litter size as an indicator of reproductive success. First, individual characteristics (age, sex, mass) did not affect Arctic fox boldness, while individual identity generated variation in boldness. Next, </span>we found that during years of low lemming density, individuals behaving boldly had more pups than those behaving less boldly, suggesting boldness may provide an advantage when lemmings are scarce by increasing hunting success or allowing access to alternative resources. However, all <span>individuals tended to show high levels of boldness when lemming density was high, and all produced large litters. </span>Temporal variation in the abundance of a main prey might therefore influence the relation between boldness and reproductive success of a predator, and if individuals consistently differ in their level of boldness, fluctuating selection could contribute to the maintenance of personality.</p>
Data for: Dietary analysis reveals differences in the prey use of two sympatric bat species
<p>One mechanism for morphologically similar and sympatric species to avoid competition and facilitate coexistence is to feed on different prey items within different microhabitats. In the current study, we investigated and compared the diet of the two most common and similar-sized bat species in Japan – <em>Murina ussuriensis</em> (Ognev, 1913) and <em>Myotis ikonnikovi</em> (Ognev, 1912) – to gain more knowledge about the degree of overlap in their diet and their foraging behavior. We found that both bat species consumed prey from the orders of Lepidoptera and Diptera most frequently, while the proportion of Dipterans was higher in the diet of <em>M. ikonnikovi</em>. Furthermore, we found a higher prey diversity in the diet of <em>M. ikonnikovi</em> compared to that of <em>M. ussuriensis</em><em> </em>which might indicate that the former is a more generalist predator than the latter. In contrast, the diet of <em>M. ussuriensis</em> contained many Lepidopteran families. The higher probability of prey items likely captured via gleaning to occur in the diet of <em>M. ussuriensis</em> in contrast to <em>M. ikonnikovi</em> indicates that <em>M. ussuriensis</em> might switch between aerial-hawking and gleaning modes of foraging behavior. We encourage further studies across various types of habitats and seasons to investigate the flexibility of the diet composition and foraging habitat use of these two bat species.</p>
Data from: Predator-prey interactions in the Arctic: DNA-metabarcoding reveals that nestling diet of snow buntings reflects arthropod seasonality
<p>Tundra arthropods are of considerable ecological importance as a seasonal food source for many arctic-breeding birds. Dietary composition and food preferences are rarely known, complicating assessments of ecological interactions in a changing environment. In our field study, we investigated nestling diet of snow buntings (<em>Plectrophenax nivalis</em> (L., 1758)) breeding in Svalbard. We collected faecal samples from 8-day-old nestlings and assessed dietary composition by DNA-metabarcoding. Simultaneously, the availability of potential prey arthropods was measured by pitfall-trapping. Molecular analyses of nestling faeces identified 31 arthropod taxa in the diet, whose proportions changed throughout the brood-rearing period. Changes in nestling diet matched varying abundances and emergence patterns of the tundra arthropod community. Snow buntings provisioned their offspring mainly with Diptera (true flies) based on both presence/absence and relative read abundance of diet items. At the beginning of the season in June, Chironomidae (non-biting midges) and the scathophagid fly <em>Scathophaga furcata</em> (Say, 1823) dominated the diet, whereas the muscid fly <em>Spilogona dorsata </em>(Zetterstedt, 1845) dominated the diet later in July. When accounted for availability, muscid flies were selected positively amongst the most often provisioned food taxa. Our study demonstrates the ecological role of the snow bunting as a generalist arthropod predator and highlights DNA-metabarcoding as a non-invasive technique for diet analyses with high taxonomical precision if sufficient DNA-sequence libraries are available.</p>
Non-exploitative human disturbance provides shelter for prey from predator
<p>Human activities can influence behaviors of predators and prey, as well as predator-prey interactions. Using camera trap data, we investigated whether or to what extent human activities influenced behaviors of predators (tigers and leopards) and prey (sambar deer, spotted deer, wild boar, barking deer), and predator-prey interactions in the Barandabhar Corridor Forest (BCF), Chitwan District, Nepal. A multispecies occupancy model revealed that the presence of humans altered the conditional occupancy of both prey and predator species. Specifically, the conditional occupancy probability of prey was substantially higher (ψ = 0.91, CI = 0.89–0.92) when humans were present than when humans were absent (ψ = 0.68, CI = 0.54–0.79). The diel activity pattern of most prey species overlapped strongly with humans, whereas predators were generally more active when humans were absent. Finally, the spatio-temporal overlap analysis revealed that human-prey interactions (i.e., the probability that both humans and prey species being present on the same grid at the same hourly period) was ~3 times higher (10.5%, CI = 10.4%–10.6%) compared to spatio-temporal overlap between humans-predators (3.1%, CI = 3.0%–3.2%). Our findings are consistent with the human-shield hypothesis and suggest that ungulate prey species may reduce predation risk by using areas with high human activities.</p>
Rain, recreation, and risk: Human activity and ecological disturbance create seasonal risk landscapes for the prey of an ambush predator
<p>Predation risk and prey responses exhibit fluctuations in space and time. Seasonal ecological disturbances can alter landscape structure and permeability to influence predator activity and efficacy, creating predictable patterns of risk for prey (seasonal risk landscapes). This may create corresponding seasonal shifts in antipredator behavior, mediated by species ecology and trade-offs between risk and resources. Yet, how human recreation interacts with seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator behavior remains understudied.</p> <p><strong>Goals</strong> – In South Florida, we investigated the impact of a seasonal ecological disturbance, specifically flooding, which is inversely related to human activity, on interactions between Florida panthers (<em>Puma concolor coryi</em>) and white-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus</em> <em>virginianus</em>). We hypothesized that human activity and ecological disturbances would interact with panther-deer ecology, resulting in the emergence of two distinct seasonal landscapes of predation risk and the corresponding antipredator response. We conducted camera trap surveys across southwestern Florida to collect detection data on humans, panthers, and deer. We analyzed the influence of human site use and flooding on deer and panther detection probability, co-occurrence, and diel activity during the flooded and dry seasons. Flooding led to decreased panther detections and increased deer detections, resulting in reduced deer-panther co-occurrence during the flooded season. Panthers exhibited increased nocturnality and reduced diel activity overlap with deer in areas with higher human activity. Supporting our hypothesis, panthers' avoidance of human recreation and flooding created distinct risk schedules for deer, driving their antipredator behavior. Deer utilized flooded areas to spatially offset predation risk during the flooded season while increasing diurnal activity in response to human recreation during the dry season.</p> <p><strong>Significance to the field </strong>– We highlight the importance of understanding how competing risks and ecological disturbances influence predator and prey behavior, leading to the generation of seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator responses. We emphasize the role of cyclical ecological disturbances in shaping dynamic predator-prey interactions. Furthermore, we highlight how human recreation may function as a 'temporal human shield,' altering seasonal risk landscapes and antipredator responses to reduce encounter rates between predators and prey. </p>
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
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International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.