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65 results for “mesopredator”
Video files linked in Coleman and Burge, "Association behavior between sand tiger sharks and round scad is driven by mesopredators"
<p>Videos referred to in the Results, Table 1, Figure 2, and Figure 3 of Coleman and Burge "Association behavior between sand tiger sharks and round scad is driven by mesopredators" are included here. Table S2 lists a description of each video (Descriptions), date (Date of occurrence) and time (Clock time of occurrence) of footage, a timing reference to the description within the video (video time), and a link to Youtube (Video reference) of the same footage. Note that file uploads for videos for views of the field site at Frying Pan Tower (in Materials and Methods and Table S2; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK1g13VpyT6oYUJL7U3hRPlt2U5L_mcKL">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLK1g13VpyT6oYUJL7U3hRPlt2U5L_mcKL</a>) are not included with these uploads as no data or observations are derived from these videos.</p>
Data from: Do introduced apex predators suppress introduced mesopredators? A multiscale spatiotemporal study of dingoes and feral cats in Australia suggests not
<p>1. The role of apex predators in structuring ecosystems through the suppression of mesopredator activity and abundance is receiving increasing attention, largely due to the potential benefits for biodiversity conservation. In Australia, invasive mesopredators such as feral cats (Felis catus) have been identified as major contributors to Australia's mass mammal extinctions since European arrival. The introduced dingo (Canis familiaris) has been proposed as a novel way to suppress the impacts of feral cats, however scientific evidence of the dingo's suppressive role is equivocal. 2. We used camera traps to investigate whether a large introduced predator (dingo) suppresses the activity of an established introduced mesopredator (feral cat) across a national park site conserving endangered species, and an agricultural site supporting cattle grazing enterprises. 3. Feral cats and dingoes exhibited marked overlap in both temporal and spatial activity, indicating coexistence. Some temporal separation was evident at the agricultural site, however this reflected higher diurnal activity by dingoes, not a responsive shift in cat activity. Cat activity times were unrelated to dingo presence and did not differ between areas occupied by dingoes and dingo-free areas. There was no evidence of dingoes excluding cats from patches at either site, nor was there evidence of within-night fine-scale spatiotemporal avoidance of dingoes by cats. 4. Species co-occurrence models revealed dingoes had no negative effect on the probability of cat presence. The probability of detecting a cat on the national park was significantly higher in areas with dingoes than in dingo-free areas, while on agricultural land, cat detectability did not differ between areas with and without dingoes. Cats remained active, abundant and widespread across both sites, with evidence of cats hunting and breeding successfully in areas occupied by dingoes. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our findings indicate that feral cats can coexist with dingoes, without apparent suppression of cat activity, abundance, or fitness. Proposals to reintroduce or restore dingoes and other large predators to suppress invasive mesopredators and conserve biodiversity should be carefully evaluated on a site-by-site basis, as their ability to suppress cats and protect species of conservation significance will likely be context dependent.</p>
Data from: Not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf: calls from large predators do not silence mesopredators
<p>Large predators are known to shape the behavior and ecology of sympatric predators via conflict and competition, with mesopredators thought to avoid large predators, while dogs suppress predator activity and act as guardians of human property. However, interspecific communication between predators has not been well-explored and this assumption of avoidance may oversimplify the responses of the species involved. We explored the acoustic activity of three closely related sympatric canids: wolves <em>Canis lupus</em>, coyotes <em>Canis latrans</em>, and dogs <em>Canis familiaris</em>. These species have an unbalanced triangle of risk: coyotes, as mesopredators, are at risk from both apex-predator wolves and human-associated dogs, while wolves fear dogs, and dogs may fear wolves as apex predators or challenge them as intruders into human-allied spaces. We predicted that risk perception would dictate vocal response with wolves and dogs silencing coyotes as well as dogs silencing wolves. Dogs, in their protective role of guarding human property, would respond to both. Eleven passive acoustic monitoring devices were deployed across 13 nights in Central Wisconsin, and we measured the responses of each species to naturally occurring heterospecific vocalizations. Against our expectation, silencing did not occur. Instead, coyotes were not silenced by either species: when hearing wolves, coyotes responded at greater than chance rates and when hearing dogs, coyotes did not produce fewer calls than chance rates. Similarly, wolves responded at above chance rates to coyotes and at chance rates when hearing dogs. Only the dogs followed our prediction and responded at above chance rates in response to both coyotes and wolves. Thus, instead of silencing their competitors, canid vocalizations elicit responses from them suggesting the existence of a complex heterospecific communication network.</p>
Figure 6. 24 h in Summer diving and haul-out behavior of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) near mesopredator breeding colonies at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Figure 6. 24 h rose plots of leopard seal dive activity by hour of day from the parametric data set. Red arrows represent the mean vector of dive activity. (A) all dives pooled from the 2010 season (n = 6,017) from three seals (4OR, 9OR, and 390G). (B) Activity for leopard seal 4OR (n = 2,292 dives) was significantly different from the 2010 mean and the other two seals; (Watson's two sample tests, P <0.05). (C) Activity for leopard seal 9OR (n = 2,283 dives) was significantly different from the 2010 mean and the other two seals (Watson's two sample tests, P <0.001). (D) Activity for leopard seal 390G (n = 1,442 dives) was significantly different from the 2010 mean and the other two seals (Watson's two sample tests, P <0.001).
Figure 5. 24 h in Summer diving and haul-out behavior of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) near mesopredator breeding colonies at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Figure 5. 24 h rose plots of dive activity by hour of day. The red arrows represents the mean vector (direction = time of day, length = mean number of dives) of dive activity (dives/h) for: (A) all dives (n = 40,308). Gray shaded areas represent the crepuscular periods (+1 h from sunset and sunrise) across the study; (B) all dives pooled from the 2010 season (n = 13,373); (C) all dives pooled from the 2011 season (n = 6,545); (D) all dives pooled from the 2014 season (n = 8,723). The null hypothesis that patterns of diel dive activity were equivalent between seasons could not be rejected (Watson's two-sample tests, P> 0.05).
Figure 1 in Summer diving and haul-out behavior of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) near mesopredator breeding colonies at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Figure 1. Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, Antarctica. The black star in the right pane indicates the location of Cape Shirreff in the western Antarctic Peninsula region.
Figure 4 in Summer diving and haul-out behavior of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) near mesopredator breeding colonies at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Figure 4. Comparison by dive types between (A) behavior predicted from the k-means cluster analysis of time-depth dive records (n = 38,338) and (B) behavior manually scored from animal-borne video dive data (n = 309).
Figure 3 in Summer diving and haul-out behavior of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) near mesopredator breeding colonies at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Figure 3. The mean proportion (with SD whiskers) of dives that were classified into each dive type (1–4) for all dives in the cluster data set (n = 38,338).
Figure 2 in Summer diving and haul-out behavior of leopard seals (Hydrurga leptonyx) near mesopredator breeding colonies at Livingston Island, Antarctic Peninsula
Figure 2. (A) Empirical haul-out probability distributions for leopard seals at Cape Shirreff based on 209 haul outs from 18 animals in January and February from 2008 to 2014. (B) A polynomial linear regression (solid line) which predicts haul-out probability based on time (h) from local apparent noon; 95% confidence intervals (dashed lines).
Fig. 2 in Wildlife disease ecology in changing landscapes: Mesopredator release and toxoplasmosis
Fig. 2. Map of Tasmania showing blood collection sites for the three native carnivore species and the introduced feral cat. Places identified are those referred to in the text.
Fig. 1 in Wildlife disease ecology in changing landscapes: Mesopredator release and toxoplasmosis
Fig. 1. Map of Tasmania showing average cat densities from individual spotlighting districts over 8 years and blood collection sites for the Tasmanian pademelon. Positive T. gondii sites are those where at least one sample tested positive to IgG antibodies. Negative sites are those where no evidence of exposure to T. gondii was found in any sample.
Fig. 3 in Wildlife disease ecology in changing landscapes: Mesopredator release and toxoplasmosis
Fig. 3. Prevalence of IgG antibodies of Tasmanian mammals to T. gondii by trophic level; n represents the total number of samples tested. Standard error bars are shown.
Do introduced apex predators suppress introduced mesopredators? A multiscale spatiotemporal study of dingoes and feral cats in Australia suggests not
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Data from: Not afraid of the Big Bad Wolf: calls from large predators do not silence mesopredators
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Data from: Assessing springtime vertebrate prey of sympatric mesopredators in the southeastern United States using metabarcoding analysis
<p>Coyotes (<em>Canis latrans</em>) colonized the eastern United States over the last century and formed a 3-species predator guild with bobcats (<em>Lynx rufus</em>) and gray foxes (<em>Urocyon cinereoargenteus</em>) across much of the southeastern United States. Diets among the three species vary along with respective impacts on game species such as white-tailed deer (<em>Odocoileus virginianus</em>) and wild turkeys (<em>Meleagris gallopavo</em>). To determine predation impacts on vertebrate prey and dietary overlap in consumption of prey items, we assessed diets of coyote, bobcat, and gray fox during spring, coinciding with white-tailed deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing. We sampled across three sites along the Savannah River in South Carolina from mid-May through mid-June of 2020-2021. We collected 180 scat samples along 295.9 kilometers (71.1 – 122.4 km/site) of unpaved secondary roads and used DNA metabarcoding to determine vertebrate diet items. We identified predator species of scat using DNA metabarcoding and species-specific mtDNA fragment analysis (153 were coyotes, 20 bobcats, and seven gray foxes). Overall, we found evidence that two species, coyote and bobcat, consumed deer while all three consumed turkeys. The frequency of deer in the diet varied across sites for coyotes from 62 – 86% and wild turkey was present with a frequency of occurrence of 9% for coyotes, 5% for bobcats, and 14% for gray fox. Vertebrate diet specialization was evident across predator species with a high frequency of deer in coyote diets, rabbits and small mammals in bobcat diets, and herpetofauna in gray fox diets. During deer fawning and wild turkey nesting and brood rearing, dietary overlap appears to be mediated by the disparate selection of prey items, which reduced competition among coyotes, bobcats, and gray foxes. The use of DNA metabarcoding may augment our understanding of dietary preferences within this predator guild by providing increased resolution of diet composition among important game species.</p>
Data from: Dietary partitioning among three cryptobentic reef fish mesopredators revealed by visual analysis, metabarcoding of gut content, and stable isotope analysis
<p>Understanding how mesopredators partition their diet and the identity of consumed prey can assist in understanding the ecological role predators and prey play in ecosystem trophodynamics. Here, we assessed the diet of three common coral reef mesopredators; <em>Pseudochromis flavivertex</em>, <em>Pseudochromis fridmani</em>, and <em>Pseudochromis olivaceus</em> from the family Pseudochromidae, commonly known as dottybacks, using a combination of i) visual stomach content analysis, ii) stomach content DNA metabarcoding (18S, COI), and iii) stable isotope analysis (δ<sup>15</sup>N, δ<sup>13</sup>C). In addition, <em>P. flavivertex</em> is found in two distinct color morphs in the Red Sea, providing an opportunity to analyze intra-morph differences. These techniques revealed partitioning in the dietary composition and resource use among species. Arthropods comprised the main dietary component of <em>P. flavivertex</em> (18S > 60%; COI > 10%), and <em>P. olivaceus</em> (18S = 57.2%) while <em>P. fridmani</em> ingested predominantly mollusks (18S = 51.3%, COI = 24.6%). Despite being small predators, microplastics were found in the gut content of some of these fishes. Stable isotope analysis showed differences in species' isotopic niche breadth and trophic position. <em>Pseudochromis olivaceus</em> presented the largest isotopic niche (SEA<sub>C</sub> = 1.61‰<sup>2</sup>), while <em>P. fridmani</em> showed the smallest isotopic niche (SEA<sub>C</sub> = 0.45‰<sup>2</sup>) among species. Although the two techniques used for stomach content analysis did not show differences in the diet within color morphs of <em>P. flavivertex</em>, they differed in the isotopic niche and resource use. Despite our limited sampling, our findings provide evidence of species-specific differences in the trophic ecology of dottybacks and demonstrate their important role as predators of cryptic invertebrates and small fishes. This study highlights the importance of combining several approaches (short-term: visual analysis and DNA metabarcoding; and long-term: isotope analysis) when assessing the feeding habits of coral reef fish, as they provide complementary information necessary to delimit their niches and understand the role that small mesopredators play in coral reef ecosystems.</p>
Human land-use effects on mammalian mesopredator occupancy of a northeastern Connecticut landscape
<p>Mammalian mesopredators—mid-sized carnivores—are ecologically, economically and socially important. With their adaptability to a variety of habitats and diets, loss of apex predators and forest regrowth, many of these species are increasing in number throughout the northeastern USA. However, currently the region is seeing extensive landscape alterations, with an increase in residential and industrial development especially at the expense of existing forest and small-scale farmland. We sought to understand how important an existing mosaic of working lands (timberland and farmland) in a forested landscape is to mesopredator species. We did this through studying mesopredator occupancy across three land uses (or habitat types): forest reserve (protected), timber harvest (shelterwood cuts) and field (both crop yielding and fallow) in and around a 3200-ha forest in northeastern Connecticut. We examined coyote (Canis latrans), bobcat (Lynx rufus), fisher (Pekania pennanti), and raccoon (Procyon lotor) occupancy using paired camera traps across juxtaposed reserve, shelterwood and field units from April 2018 to March 2019. We created a priori habitat variable models for each species and season, as well as analyzed the impact of habitat types on each species. Throughout the year bobcats positively associated with foliage height diversity, and had the highest use of shelterwoods and lowest of fields. Land use utilization varied seasonally for coyotes and raccoons, with higher use of fields than reserves and shelterwoods for half the year and no difference between land uses the other half. Both species were not strongly associated with any particular habitat variables. Reserve forest was moderately to highly used by all species for at least half the year, and highly use year-round by fisher. Our findings reveal that a mosaic of intact forest and working lands, timber harvest and agriculture can support mesopredator diversity.</p>
Data belonging to "Successful invasion: camera trap distance sampling reveals higher density for invasive raccoon dog compared to native mesopredators"
<p>Data files (comma separated text files) containing the camera data (CameraData) containing the information on camera trap placements in the various sites and their operation time in days and aperture, the distance sampling data (DistanceData) containing the information on the species and distance detected for each 1s time interval in front of each camera, and the trigger data (TriggerData) containing the time stamps for the pictures taken of each species with each camera, collected in the years 2020 and 2021 in southern Finland. The repository further contains an R script "distanceSamplingScript" which uses the reposited above-described files for analysis reported in the publication "Successful invasion: camera trap distance sampling reveals higher density for invasive raccoon dog compared to native mesopredators" https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-024-03323-4. The R script has been confirmed to run in R version 4.3.3 using packages "activity" vs 1.3.4 and "Distance" vs 1.0.9</p>
Dataset on how mesopredator-mediated trophic cascade can break persistent phytoplankton blooms in coastal waters
<p>Managing eutrophied systems using only nutrient decreases to impose bottom-up control can be economically and ecologically challenging. Top-down controls through increased consumption have sometimes effectively controlled phytoplankton blooms. However, mechanistic insights, especially on possible trophic cascades, are less understood in brackish, species-poor coastal waters, where large cladocera are absent. In this study, we set up large mesocosms for three consecutive years during the growing season. One set of mesocosms contained mesopredators (gobies and shrimps), whereas the other mesocosms had no such mesopredator present. The results were standardized to monitoring data from the ecosystem to track possible differences between treatments and the system. We found that mesopredator mesocosms showed lower turbidity, phytoplankton biomass, and nutrients compared to no-mesopredator mesocosms, and compared to the ecosystem. This decrease allowed macrophytes to colonize water depths only sparsely colonized in the ecosystem. Rotifer biomass increased in mesopredator mesocosms compared to the ecosystem and to the no-mesopredator mesocosms. Likewise, copepod biomass that potentially grazes upon rotifers and other microzooplankton decreased in mesopredator mesocosms. No-mesopredator mesocosms were colonized by an omnivorous mesograzer (<em>Gammarus</em> <em>tigrinus</em>), potentially creating additional pressure on macrophytes and increasing grazing-mediated nutrient release. Zooplankton was not able to control the non-nutrient-limited phytoplankton. We propose a new mechanism, where a higher mesopredator density will increase grazing on phytoplankton by promoting microzooplankton capable of grazing on picophytoplankton. This proposed mechanism would contrast with freshwater systems, where a decrease of zooplanktivorous fish would promote larger phytoplankton grazer like cladocerans. Biomanipulation in such species-poor eutrophic coastal waters may be more successful, due to fewer trophic pathways, that can cause complex top-down controls like in other systems. Stocking eutrophic coastal waters with gobies and shrimps may be an alternative biomanipulative approach rather than selectively removing large piscivorous or omnivorous fish from eutrophic coastal waters.</p>
Data from: Top-down control of a marine mesopredator: Increase in native white-tailed eagles accelerates the extinction of an endangered seabird population
<p><span>1. </span><span>Bottom-up control is an important regulator of marine mesopredators such as seabirds. The prevalence of top-down control on these species is however less well understood. In particular, how native predators affect seabird populations has rarely been quantified. </span></p> <p><span>2. </span><span>Here, we investigate how an increase in white-tailed eagles in northern Norway, a stronghold for the species, affected a local population of 25,000 pairs of black-legged kittiwakes, a red-listed seabird, during a 42-year period ending with colony extinction. We use a natural experiment of two neighbouring colonies with/without eagle predation to disentangle the effects of eagles from local kittiwake foraging conditions (using size of young herring as a proxy). </span></p> <p><span>3. </span><span>At the colony where eagle predation occurred, and in contrast to the eagle-free colony, kittiwake breeding success and population size declined with increased eagle abundance, the latter more strongly under poor foraging conditions. Breeding success increased with foraging conditions at both colonies. </span></p> <p><span>4. </span><span>Simple population modelling shows that although conditions were insufficient to sustain the eagle-exposed colony, the increased abundance of eagles sped up its extirpation by many years.</span></p> <p><span>5. </span><span>Policy implications</span><span>. Our study shows that top-down effects from avian predators can be significant regulators of seabird populations, challenging their conservation where native, often protected, predators are rising. Such effects, and their possible interaction with other factors, must also be accounted for when using seabird demographic traits as environmental indicators and when developing more flexible and effective management and action plans. </span></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)
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DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
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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.