Predator biomass, prey biomass landcover and climate data from spotted hyaena and lion sites in Africa

The spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta Erxleben) and the lion (Panthera leo
Linnaeus) are two of the most abundant and charismatic large mammalian
carnivores in Africa and yet both are experiencing declining populations
and significant pressures from environmental change. However, with few
exceptions, most studies have focused on influences upon spotted hyaena
and lion populations within individual sites, rather than synthesising
data from multiple locations. This has impeded the identification of
over-arching trends behind the changing biomass of these large predators.
Using Partial Least Squares regression models, influences upon population
biomass were therefore investigated, focusing upon prey biomass,
temperature, precipitation and vegetation cover. Additionally, as both
species are in competition with one other for food, the influence of
competition and evidence of environmental partitioning were assessed. Our
results indicate that spotted hyaena biomass is more strongly influenced
by environmental conditions than lion, with larger hyaena populations in
areas with warmer winters, cooler summers, less drought and more semi-open
vegetation cover. Competition was found to have a negligible influence
upon spotted hyaena and lion populations, and environmental partitioning
is suggested, with spotted hyaena population biomass greater in areas with
more semi-open vegetation cover. Moreover, spotted hyaena is most heavily
influenced by the availability of medium-sized prey biomass, whereas lion
is influenced more by large size prey biomass. Given the influences
identified upon spotted hyaena populations in particular, the results of
this study could be used to highlight populations potentially at greatest
risk of decline, such as in areas with warming summers and increasingly
arid conditions.