Data from: Temporal variation in habitat selection breaks the catch-22 of spatially contrasting predation risk from multiple predators

Predator avoidance depends on prey being able to discern how risk varies
in space and time, but this is made considerably more complicated if risk
is simultaneously present from multiple predators. This is the situation
for an increasing number of mammalian prey species, as large carnivores
recover or are reintroduced in ecosystems on several continents. Roe deer
Capreolus capreolus in southern Norway illustrate a case in which prey
face two predators with contrasting patterns of predation risk. They face
a catch-22 situation: spatially avoiding the risk from one predator (lynx
Lynx lynx in dense habitat) implies exposure to the other (hunters in open
habitat). Using GPS-data from 29 roe deer, we tested for daily and
seasonal variation in roe deer selection for habitat with respect to the
habitats' year-round average risk level. Generally, roe deer altered
their habitat selection between night and day in a pattern consistent with
being able to avoid predicted risk from the nocturnal lynx during night
and predicted risk from human hunters during day. However, seasonal
variation in habitat selection only partially corresponded with the
predicted seasonal variation in risk. Whereas roe deer avoided areas with
high risk from hunters more strongly during the hunting season than in
other seasons, there was a lack of selection towards areas and time
periods lowering the risk of lynx predation during winter. It seems likely
that the risk of starvation and thermal stress constrain roe deer habitat
selection during this energetically challenging season with cold
temperatures, snow cover and limited natural forage. The habitat selection
pattern of roe deer fits thus only partly with the two contrasting risk
gradients they face. Adjusting risk-avoidance behavior temporally can be
an adaptive response in the case of several predators whose predation
patterns differ in space and time.