Table scraps: inter-trophic food provisioning by pumas

Large carnivores perform keystone ecological functions through direct predation, or indirectly, through food subsidies to scavengers or trophic cascades driven by their influence on the distributions of their prey. Pumas (Puma concolor) are an elusive, cryptic species difficult to study, and little is known about their inter-trophic level interactions in natural communities. Using new GPS technology, we discovered that pumas in Patagonia provided 232 ± 31 kg of edible meat/month/100 km2 to near-threatened Andean condors (Vultur gryphus) and other members of a diverse scavenger community. This is up to 3.1 times the contributions by wolves (Canis lupus) to communities in Yellowstone National Park, USA, and highlights the keystone role large, solitary felids play in natural systems. These findings are more pertinent than ever, for managers increasingly advocate controlling pumas and other large felids to bolster prey populations and mitigate concerns over human and livestock safety, witho...

大型食肉动物通过直接捕食，或间接通过向食腐动物提供食物补贴（food subsidies），或通过其对猎物分布的影响驱动的营养级联（trophic cascades），发挥着关键生态功能（keystone ecological functions）。美洲狮（Puma concolor）是一种难以捉摸、行踪隐秘的物种，其在自然群落中的跨营养级相互作用（inter-trophic level interactions）尚不为人所知。借助新型GPS技术，我们发现巴塔哥尼亚的美洲狮每月每100平方公里向近危物种安第斯神鹰（Vultur gryphus）及多样化食腐动物群落的其他成员提供232±31公斤可食用肉类。这一贡献量最高可达美国黄石国家公园灰狼（Canis lupus）对群落贡献的3.1倍，凸显了大型独居猫科动物在自然系统中扮演的关键角色。这些发现比以往任何时候都更具现实意义——因为管理者正日益主张控制美洲狮及其他大型猫科动物，以增加猎物数量并缓解对人类和牲畜安全的担忧，然而……