Cougars, wolves, and humans drive a dynamic landscape of fear for elk.
Canis lupus
Cervus canadensis
Puma concolor
carnivore
human shield
human super predator
landscape of fear
predator-prey interactions
step selection function
ungulate
Journal
Ecology
ISSN: 1939-9170
Titre abrégé: Ecology
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0043541
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
15 Feb 2024
15 Feb 2024
Historique:
revised:
03
11
2023
received:
02
10
2023
accepted:
20
12
2023
medline:
16
2
2024
pubmed:
16
2
2024
entrez:
16
2
2024
Statut:
aheadofprint
Résumé
To manage predation risk, prey navigate a dynamic landscape of fear, or spatiotemporal variation in risk perception, reflecting predator distributions, traits, and activity cycles. Prey may seek to reduce risk across this landscape using habitat at times and in places when predators are less active. In multipredator landscapes, avoiding one predator could increase vulnerability to another, making the landscape of fear difficult to predict and navigate. Additionally, humans may shape interactions between predators and prey, and induce new sources of risk. Humans can function as a shield, providing a refuge for prey from human-averse carnivores, and as a predator, causing mortality through hunting and vehicle collisions and eliciting a fear response that can exceed that of carnivores. We used telemetry data collected between 2017 and 2021 from 63 Global Positioning System-collared elk (Cervus canadensis), 42 cougars (Puma concolor), and 16 wolves (Canis lupus) to examine how elk habitat selection changed in relation to carnivores and humans in northeastern Washington, USA. Using step selection functions, we evaluated elk habitat use in relation to cougars, wolves, and humans, diel period (daytime vs. nighttime), season (summer calving season vs. fall hunting season), and habitat structure (open vs. closed habitat). The diel cycle was critical to understanding elk movement, allowing elk to reduce encounters with predators where and when they would be the largest threat. Elk strongly avoided cougars at night but had a near-neutral response to cougars during the day, whereas elk avoided wolves at all times of day. Elk generally used more open habitats where cougars and wolves were most active, rather than altering the use of habitat structure depending on the predator species. Elk avoided humans during the day and ~80% of adult female mortality was human caused, suggesting that humans functioned as a "super predator" in this system. Simultaneously, elk leveraged the human shield against wolves but not cougars at night, and no elk were confirmed to have been killed by wolves. Our results add to the mounting evidence that humans profoundly affect predator-prey interactions, highlighting the importance of studying these dynamics in anthropogenic areas.
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
e4255Subventions
Organisme : Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Organisme : University of Washington, College of the Environment, Hall Conservation Genetics Grant
Organisme : Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
ID : WA190025
Organisme : National Science Foundation
ID : DEB-1652420
Informations de copyright
© 2024 The Ecological Society of America.
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