Season, prey availability, sex and age explain prey size selection in a large solitary carnivore

Prey selection is a fundamental aspect of ecology that drives evolution and community structure, yet the impact of intraspecific variation on the selection for prey size remains largely unaccounted for in ecological theory. Here, we explored puma (Puma concolor) prey selection across 6 study sites in North and South America. Our results highlighted the strong influence of season and prey availability on puma prey selection, and the smaller influence of puma age. Pumas in all sites selected smaller prey in warmer seasons following the ungulate birth pulse. Our top models included interaction terms between sex and age, suggesting that males more than females select larger prey as they age, which may reflect experiential learning. When accounting for variable sampling across pumas in our 6 sites, male and female pumas killed prey of equivalent size, even though males are larger than females, challenging assumptions about this species. Nevertheless, pumas in different study sites selected p..., GPS Programming and Identifying Puma Prey
We programmed GPS collars to obtain location data at 1- or 2-hr intervals (i.e., 12 or 24 locations/day). GPS data was transmitted through an Argos uplink at 3-day intervals in Patagonia and Mendocino, or 2-6 times per day via Iridium and Globalstar uplinks for the remaining sites.
            We identified aggregated GPS points, termed GPS clusters (Anderson Jr and Lindzey 2003), via visual assessments in GoogleEarth or ArcGIS, except in Siskiyou and Washington, where we employed a Python script (Python Software Foundation Hampton, NH) to assess GPS data and identify clusters. We defined clusters as any ³2 points within 150 m of each other spanning 2-hrs to two weeks, except in Wyoming and Washington, where we identified clusters that spanned 4-hrs to 2 weeks, and Mendocino, where identified clusters spanned 8-hrs to 2 weeks. Researchers investigated GPS clusters in the field using handheld GPS units to navigate to sites, and assessed hair, ski..., , # Season, prey availability, sex and age explain prey size selection in a large solitary carnivore

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gpv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gpv)

The following dataset includes all relevant kill site information across six sites in North and South America collected and recorded based on kill site investigations between 2008-2021. Our kill site dataset documents relevant information recorded at each kill site necessary to investigate predation dynamics, including differences in prey size selection for male vs. female pumas, relationships between age of the puma and the size of their prey, and influence of various characteristics including season and prey availability on puma prey size selection.

## Description of the data and file structure

**Variables:**

*site*: mendo = Mendocino site, siski = Siskiyou site, colo = Colorado site, patagonia = Patagonia site, olympic = Olympic Peninsula site, TCP = Wyoming site

*cat_id*: individual ID of puma 

*c...

猎物选择是生态学中驱动演化与群落结构构建的核心议题，但种内变异对猎物大小选择的影响在生态理论中仍未得到充分考量。本研究于北美与南美共6个研究样地开展美洲狮（Puma concolor）的猎物选择探究。结果显示，季节与猎物可获得性对美洲狮猎物选择的影响最为显著，而美洲狮年龄的影响相对较弱。所有样地的美洲狮均会在有蹄类产崽高峰后的暖季选择体型更小的猎物。本研究的最优模型包含性别与年龄的交互项，表明雄性美洲狮随年龄增长选择更大猎物的倾向较雌性更强，这一现象可能反映了经验学习的作用。在校正6个样地美洲狮的采样差异后，尽管雄性美洲狮体型大于雌性，但雌雄个体猎杀的猎物体型并无显著差异，这一结果挑战了针对该物种的既有认知。尽管如此，不同研究样地的美洲狮在猎物选择上仍存在差异……

## GPS项圈设置与美洲狮猎物识别
我们通过编程设置GPS项圈（GPS collar），以1或2小时间隔（即每日12或24个定位点）获取位置数据。巴塔哥尼亚与门多西诺样地的GPS数据通过Argos上行链路每3天传输一次，其余样地则通过铱星系统（Iridium）与全球星系统（Globalstar）上行链路每日传输2~6次。
除锡斯基尤与华盛顿样地外，我们通过Google Earth或ArcGIS进行目视解译，识别出聚集的GPS定位点，即GPS聚类点（Anderson Jr & Lindzey, 2003）；锡斯基尤与华盛顿样地则采用Python脚本（Python软件基金会，新罕布什尔州汉普顿）处理GPS数据并识别聚类点。我们将聚类点定义为：在2小时至2周的时间跨度内，彼此间距不超过150米的至少2个定位点；怀俄明与华盛顿样地的聚类点时间跨度为4小时至2周，门多西诺样地则为8小时至2周。研究人员借助手持GPS设备导航至野外位点，对GPS聚类点进行实地调查，并评估毛发、足迹……

# 季节、猎物可获得性、性别与年龄解释大型独居食肉动物的猎物大小选择
[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gpv](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gpv)
本数据集涵盖2008-2021年间通过猎食位点调查获取的北美与南美共6个样地的全部相关猎食位点信息。本猎食位点数据集记录了开展捕食动态研究所需的各项猎食位点相关数据，包括雌雄美洲狮猎物大小选择的差异、美洲狮年龄与其猎杀猎物体型间的关联，以及季节、猎物可获得性等多种特征对美洲狮猎物大小选择的影响。

## 数据与文件结构说明
**变量：**
*site*：样地编码，mendo=门多西诺样地，siski=锡斯基尤样地，colo=科罗拉多样地，patagonia=巴塔哥尼亚样地，olympic=奥林匹克半岛样地，TCP=怀俄明样地
*cat_id*：美洲狮个体编号*c…*