Coursing the mottled mosaic: generalist predators track pulses in availability of neonatal ungulates

The density and distribution of resources shape animal movement and behavior and have direct implications for population dynamics. Resource availability often is “pulsed” in space and time, and individuals should cue in on resource pulses when the energetic gain of doing so exceeds that of stable resources. Birth pulses of prey represent a profitable but ephemeral resource and should thereby result in shifting functional responses by predators. We evaluated movements and resource selection of coyotes (Canis latrans) across a gradient of reproductive stages ranging from late gestation to peak lactation of female mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in southwest Wyoming, USA to test whether coyotes exhibited shifts in selection and movement behavior relative to the availability and vulnerability of neonatal mule deer. We expected coyotes to track pulses in availability of neonatal mule deer, and such behavior would be represented by shifts in resource selection and search behavior of coyotes t..., ,

资源的密度与分布塑造动物的运动和行为模式，并对种群动态具有直接影响。资源可获得性在时空上常呈“脉冲式”分布，当利用脉冲资源的能量收益超过稳定资源时，动物个体应会感知并利用此类脉冲资源。猎物的出生脉冲是一种高收益但短暂的资源，因此应会导致捕食者的功能反应发生变化。我们在美国怀俄明州西南部，评估了郊狼（Canis latrans）在雌性骡鹿（Odocoileus hemionus）从晚期妊娠到泌乳高峰期这一繁殖阶段梯度中的运动模式与资源选择策略，旨在验证郊狼是否会根据新生骡鹿的可获得性及脆弱性，调整其选择偏好与运动行为。