Bottom‐up rather than top‐down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway

Author:

Cano‐Martínez Rocío1ORCID,Thorsen Neri Horntvedt2ORCID,Hofmeester Tim R.3ORCID,Odden John2ORCID,Linnell John14ORCID,Devineau Olivier1ORCID,Angoh Siow Yan Jennifer1ORCID,Odden Morten1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Forestry and Wildlife Management Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences Koppang Norway

2. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Oslo Norway

3. Department of Wildlife, Fish and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Umeå Sweden

4. Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Lillehammer Norway

Abstract

AbstractInteractions among coexisting mesocarnivores can be influenced by different factors such as the presence of large carnivores, land‐use, environmental productivity, or human disturbance. Disentangling the relative importance of bottom‐up and top‐down processes can be challenging, but it is important for biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. The aim of this study was to assess how the interactions among mesocarnivores (red fox Vulpes vulpes, badger Meles meles, and pine marten Martes martes) were affected by large carnivores (Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and wolf Canis lupus), land cover variables (proportion of agricultural land and primary productivity), and human disturbance, as well as how these top‐down and bottom‐up mechanisms were influenced by season. We analyzed 3 years (2018–2020) of camera trapping observations from Norway and used structural equation models to assess hypothesized networks of causal relationships. Our results showed that land cover variables were more strongly associated with mesocarnivore detection rates than large carnivores in Norway. This might be caused by a combination of low density of large carnivores in an unproductive ecosystem with strong seasonality. Additionally, detection rates of all mesocarnivores showed positive associations among each other, which were stronger in winter. The prevalence of positive interactions among predators might indicate a tendency to use the same areas and resources combined with weak interference competition. Alternatively, it might indicate some kind of facilitative relationship among species. Human disturbance had contrasting effects for different species, benefiting the larger mesocarnivores (red fox and badger) probably through food subsidization, but negatively affecting apex predators (wolf and lynx) and smaller mesocarnivores (pine marten). In a human‐dominated world, this highlights the importance of including anthropogenic influences in the study of species interactions.

Funder

Miljødirektoratet

Norges Forskningsråd

Publisher

Wiley

Reference100 articles.

1. Abadi M. Barham P. Chen J. Chen Z. Davis A. Dean J. Devin M. Ghemawat S. Irving G. Isard M. Kudlur M. Levenberg J. Monga R. Moore S. Murray D. Steiner B. Tucker P. Vasudevan V. Warden P. &Zhang X.(2016).TensorFlow: A system for large‐scale machine learning.Proceedings of the 12th USENIX conference on Operating Systems Design and Implementation 05/27 2016 USENIX Association Savannah Georgia USA(pp.265–283).

2. Appeears‐Team. (2022).Application for Extracting and Exploring Analysis Ready Samples (AppEEARS). Ver. 3.6. NASA EOSDIS Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC) USGS/Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center Sioux Falls South Dakota USA.

3. Being the underdog: an elusive small carnivore uses space with prey and time without enemies

4. Risk taking by Eurasian lynx ( Lynx lynx ) in a human‐dominated landscape: effects of sex and reproductive status

5. Top-down and bottom-up effects modulate species co-existence in a context of top predator restoration

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3