Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear

Apex predators structure ecosystems by hunting mesopredators and herbivores. Their ecological influence is determined not only by the number of animals they kill, but also by how prey alter their behaviours to reduce risk. Predation risk is variable in space and time creating a landscape of fear. In Australia, dingoes hunt red foxes and suppress their populations. As both predators are commonly subjected to eradication programs, the question arises whether humans alter the risk dingoes pose to foxes and in turn alter the foxes’ avoidance behaviours. We studied the spatio-temporal activity patterns and wariness behaviours of foxes and dingoes at sites where they were protected (predator friendly), where they were persecuted (predator persecuted), and at sites where foxes were persecuted, and dingoes had been eradicated (dingo eradicated). The landscape of fear hypothesis predicts that foxes will be the most spatiotemporally restricted and most fearful at predator friendly sites, and leas...

顶级捕食者通过捕食中型捕食者和食草动物来构建生态系统结构。它们的生态影响不仅取决于其捕食的动物数量，还取决于猎物如何改变行为以降低风险。捕食风险在时空上具有变异性，从而形成恐惧景观（landscape of fear）。在澳大利亚，袋狼（dingoes）捕食红狐并抑制其种群数量。由于这两种捕食者均常被纳入根除计划，由此产生一个问题：人类是否会改变袋狼对红狐构成的风险，进而改变红狐的回避行为？我们研究了红狐和袋狼在三类区域的时空活动模式与警觉行为：受保护区域（捕食者友好型）、受迫害区域（捕食者迫害型），以及红狐受迫害且袋狼已被根除的区域（袋狼根除型）。