Boom and bust: The effects of masting on seed predator range dynamics and trophic cascades

Aim: Spatiotemporal variation in resource availability is a strong driver of animal distributions. In northern hardwood and boreal forests of the northeastern United States, tree mast events provide resource pulses that drive the population dynamics of small mammals, including the American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), a primary songbird nest predator. This study sought to determine whether mast availability ameliorates their abiotic limits, enabling red squirrel elevational distributions to temporarily expand and negatively impact high elevation songbirds.

Location: Northeastern United States

Methods: We used two independent datasets to evaluate our hypotheses. First, we fit a dynamic occupancy model using data from camera trap surveys to evaluate red squirrel distributional responses to pulses in tree mast. We also assessed population responses using systematic auditory surveys analyzed with an open-population binomial mixture model. Further, we used modeled red squirrel abundance in nest-survival models to evaluate whether their abundance is correlated with daily nest survival of three songbird species.

Results: Tree mast provided a critical resource pulse that resulted in a two-fold increase in the annual elevational distribution of red squirrels. The elevational distribution of red squirrels ranged from a minimum of ~450 m (range: 663 – 1145 m asl) following two consecutive years without a masting event to a maximum of over 1000 m (range: 443 – 1545 m asl) after a large mast event. Daily nest survival of three songbird species tended to decline with an increase in the abundance of red squirrels.

Main Conclusions: Tree mast is a central biological phenomenon in many temperate and boreal forests. This study reveals how this resource pulse results in range changes in a small mammal that is both a seed and bird predator, as well as prey for many carnivores. Thus, understanding this phenomenon can inform the conservation and management of northern forests, including breeding songbirds.