Prey reduce risk-taking and abundance in the proximity of predators

Current Zoology
Anders Pape MøllerPiotr Tryjanowski

Abstract

Prey have evolved anti-predator defences that reduce or eliminate the risk of predation. Predators often reproduce at specific sites over many years causing permanent threats to local prey species. Such prey may respond by moving elsewhere thereby reducing local population abundance, or they may stay put and adjust their behavior to the presence of predators. We tested these predictions by analyzing population abundance and anti-predator behavior within 100 m of and 500 m away from nests of sparrowhawksAccipiter nisusand goshawksA. gentilisfor 80 species of birds. Population abundance of prey was reduced by 11% near goshawk nests and by 15% near sparrowhawk nests when compared with nearby control sites in similar habitats. Flight initiation distance (FID) of prey, estimated as the distance at which birds took flight when approached by a human, increased by 50% in the presence of hawk nests, providing evidence of adjustment of anti-predator behavior to prevailing risks of predation. Susceptibility to predation was estimated as log transformed abundance of the observed number of prey items obtained from prey remains collected around nests minus log transformed expected number of prey according to point counts of breeding birds. F...Continue Reading

References

Aug 10, 2005·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Daniel T Blumstein, Janice C Daniel
Sep 5, 2006·Journal of Theoretical Biology·William E Cooper, William G Frederick
Jun 1, 2007·Ecology·Anders Pape Møller, Jan Tøttrup Nielsen
Nov 17, 2009·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Chiara MorosinottoErkki Korpimäki
Jan 10, 2014·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·William E CooperTheodore Garland
May 7, 2014·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·A P Møller
Jan 27, 2015·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Diogo S M SamiaWilliam E Cooper
Jan 1, 2014·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·A P Møller, J Erritzøe
Nov 17, 2015·Nature Communications·Diogo S M SamiaDaniel T Blumstein

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