Data from: Mesopredator suppression by an apex predator alleviates the risk of predation perceived by small prey

Predators can impact their prey via consumptive effects that occur through
direct killing, and via non-consumptive effects that arise when the
behaviour and phenotypes of prey shift in response to the risk of
predation. Although predators' consumptive effects can have cascading
population-level effects on species at lower trophic levels there is less
evidence that predators' non-consumptive effects propagate through
ecosystems. Here we provide evidence that suppression of abundance and
activity of a mesopredator (the feral cat) by an apex predator (the dingo)
has positive effects on both abundance and foraging efficiency of a desert
rodent. Then by manipulating predators' access to food patches we
further the idea that apex predators provide small prey with refuge from
predation by showing that rodents increased their habitat breadth and use
of ‘risky′ food patches where an apex predator was common but
mesopredators rare. Our study suggests that apex predators'
suppressive effects on mesopredators extend to alleviate both
mesopredators' consumptive and non-consumptive effects on prey.