Long-term data reveal fitness costs of anthropogenic prey depletion for a subordinate competitor, the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus)

Within carnivore guilds, dominant competitors (e.g., lions, Panthera leo) are limited primarily by the density of prey, while subordinate competitors (e.g., African wild dogs, Lycaon pictus) have been limited by the density of dominant competitors. Historically, the fitness and population density of subordinate competitors have not been tightly linked to prey density. However, populations of large herbivores have declined substantially across sub-Saharan Africa due to human impacts, and where prey depletion is severe, fitness costs for competitive subordinates may begin to outweigh the benefits of competitive release. Using long-term intensive monitoring of African wild dogs in Zambia’s Luangwa Valley Ecosystem (LVE), we tested the effects of prey depletion on survival and reproduction. Our study area included four contiguous regions that varied in protection, prey density, and lion density. We fit Bayesian Cormack-Jolly-Seber and closed-capture models to estimate effects on survival an..., , , # Long-term data reveal fitness costs of anthropogenic prey depletion for a subordinate competitor, the African wild dog (*Lycaon pictus*)

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18q0](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18q0)

Data was collected through long-term intensive monitoring of African wild dogs (*Lycaon pictus*).

Capture histories were created from sighting and re-sighting of identified individuals through time.

Reproductive data was recorded from observation of litter size and the pups' subsequent survival.

For more information on methods and analysis techniques, please refer to the article.

## Description of the data and file structure

The R code files that generate the analysis and figures for the manuscript can be used as follows:

**LVE_Density.R**: Generates the mean median densities and provides an example capture history (CH) to show how annual abundance was estimated.

Associated files:
**Density_Estimates.csv**

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