Andren, Henrik and Liberg, Olof
(2015).
Large impact of Eurasian lynx predation on roe deer population dynamics.
PloS one. 10
:3
, 1-16
[Research article]
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Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. 533kB |
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0120570
Abstract
The effects of predation on ungulate populations depend on several factors. One of the most important factors is the proportion of predation that is additive or compensatory respectively to other mortality in the prey, i.e., the relative effect of top-down and bottom-up processes. We estimated Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) kill rate on roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) using radio-collared lynx. Kill rate was strongly affected by lynx social status. For males it was 4.85 +/- 1.30 S.E. roe deer per 30 days, for females with kittens 6.23 +/- 0.83 S.E. and for solitary females 2.71 +/- 0.47 S.E. We found very weak support for effects of prey density (both for Type I (linear) and Type II (non-linear) functional responses) and of season (winter, summer) on lynx kill rate. Additionally, we analysed the growth rate in a roe deer population from 1985 to 2005 in an area, which lynx naturally re-colonized in 1996. The annual roe deer growth rate was lower after lynx re-colonized the study area, but it was also negatively influenced by roe deer density. Before lynx colonized the area roe deer growth rate was lambda = 1.079 (+/- 0.061 S.E.), while after lynx re-colonization it was lambda = 0.94 (+/- 0.051 S.E.). Thus, the growth rate in the roe deer population decreased by Delta lambda = 0.14 (+/- 0.080 S.E.) after lynx re-colonized the study area, which corresponded to the estimated lynx predation rate on roe deer (0.11 +/- 0.042 S.E.), suggesting that lynx predation was mainly additive to other mortality in roe deer. To conclude, this study suggests that lynx predation together with density dependent factors both influence the roe deer population dynamics. Thus, both top-down and bottom-up processes operated at the same time in this predator-prey system.
Authors/Creators: | Andren, Henrik and Liberg, Olof | ||||||
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Title: | Large impact of Eurasian lynx predation on roe deer population dynamics | ||||||
Series Name/Journal: | PloS one | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2015 | ||||||
Depositing date: | 22 December 2015 | ||||||
Volume: | 10 | ||||||
Number: | 3 | ||||||
Page range: | 1-16 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 16 | ||||||
Publisher: | Public Library of Science | ||||||
ISSN: | 1932-6203 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Research article | ||||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
Agris subject categories.: | L Animal production > L20 Animal ecology L Animal production > L74 Miscellaneous animal disorders P Natural resources > P01 Nature conservation and land resources | ||||||
Subjects: | (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Ecology (A) Swedish standard research categories 2011 > 1 Natural sciences > 106 Biological Sciences (Medical to be 3 and Agricultural to be 4) > Zoology | ||||||
Agrovoc terms: | lynxes, roe deer, predator prey relations, population dynamics | ||||||
Keywords: | Bialowieza primeval forest, Home-range size, Capreolus-capreolus, Environmental productivity, Large carnivores, Jura mountains, Red deer, Prey, Density, Climate | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-3150 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-3150 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 12925 | ||||||
Faculty: | S - Faculty of Forest Sciences | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology (S) > Dept. of Ecology | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 22 Dec 2015 14:24 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 09 Sep 2020 14:17 |
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