Dryland state transitions alter trophic interactions in a predator-prey system

Environmental change is expected to alter trophic interactions and food-web dynamics with consequences for ecosystem structure, function, and stability. However, the mechanisms by which environmental change influences top-down and bottom-up processes are poorly documented.
Here, we examined how environmental change caused by shrub encroachment affects trophic interactions in a dryland. The predator-prey system included an apex canid predator (coyote; Canis latrans), an intermediate canid predator (kit fox; Vulpes macrotis), and two herbivorous lagomorph prey (black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus; and desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii) in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, USA.
We evaluated alternative hypotheses for how shrub encroachment could affect habitat use and trophic interactions, including i) modifying bottom-up processes by reducing herbaceous forage, ii) modifying top-down processes by changing canid space use or the landscape of fear experienced by lagomorph p..., Data collected using camera traps, line point intercept methods, and rain gauges., , # Dryland state transitions alter trophic interactions in a predator-prey system

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2547d7wz8](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.2547d7wz8)

## Description of the data and file structure

**This repository contains data for the following manuscript:**

Wagnon, C. J., B. T. Bestelmeyer, and R. L. Schooley. Dryland state transitions alter trophic interactions in a predator-prey system.

The following file is included:

**trophic.data**
Camera trap and environmental data used for SEM analysis. NA values represent missing data. Variable definitions are as follows:

* Site = camera site name
* Year = year of camera survey
* site.cat = unique sampling site id
* cam.days = number of days camera traps were active
* CL_ind.dec = number of independent photos for coyote
* VM_ind.dec = number of independent photos for kit fox
* SA_ind.dec = number of independent photos for desert cottontail
* LC_ind.dec = number of independent photos for black-tailed jackrabbit
* coy.pa = p...