Mattisson, Jenny and López-Bao, José Vicente and Persson, Jens and Aronsson, Malin and Andren, Henrik
(2016).
Tracking neighbours promotes the coexistence of large carnivores.
Scientific Reports. 6
, 1-9
[Journal article]
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Abstract
The study of competition and coexistence among similar interacting species has long been considered a cornerstone in evolutionary and community ecology. However, understanding coexistence remains a challenge. Using two similar and sympatric competing large carnivores, Eurasian lynx and wolverines, we tested the hypotheses that tracking among heterospecifics and reactive responses to potential risk decreases the probability of an agonistic encounter when predators access shared food resources, thus facilitating coexistence. Lynx and wolverines actively avoided each other, with the degree of avoidance being greater for simultaneous than time-delayed predator locations. Wolverines reacted to the presence of lynx at relatively short distances (mean: 383 m). In general, lynx stayed longer, and were more stationary, around reindeer carcasses than wolverines. However, when both predators were present at the same time around a carcass, lynx shortened their visits, while wolverine behavior did not change. Our results support the idea that risk avoidance is a reactive, rather than a predictive, process. Since wolverines have adapted to coexist with lynx, exploiting lynx-killed reindeer carcasses while avoiding potential encounters, the combined presence of both predators may reduce wolverine kill rate and thus the total impact of these predators on semi-domestic reindeer in Scandinavia. Consequently, population management directed at lynx may affect wolverine populations and human-wolverine conflicts.
Authors/Creators: | Mattisson, Jenny and López-Bao, José Vicente and Persson, Jens and Aronsson, Malin and Andren, Henrik | ||||||
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Title: | Tracking neighbours promotes the coexistence of large carnivores | ||||||
Series/Journal: | Scientific Reports (2045-2322) | ||||||
Year of publishing : | 2016 | ||||||
Volume: | 6 | ||||||
Page range: | 1-9 | ||||||
Number of Pages: | 9 | ||||||
Publisher: | Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature | ||||||
ISSN: | 2045-2322 | ||||||
Language: | English | ||||||
Publication Type: | Journal article | ||||||
Refereed: | Yes | ||||||
Article category: | Scientific peer reviewed | ||||||
Version: | Published version | ||||||
Copyright: | Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0 | ||||||
Full Text Status: | Public | ||||||
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: | Carnivora, wildlife management, ecology | ||||||
Keywords: | carnivores, animal interactions, tracking, Lynx lynx, Gulo gulo, Eurasian lynx, Wolverine | ||||||
URN:NBN: | urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-3941 | ||||||
Permanent URL: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-e-3941 | ||||||
Additional ID: |
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ID Code: | 14033 | ||||||
Faculty: | NJ - Fakulteten för naturresurser och jordbruksvetenskap | ||||||
Department: | (NL, NJ) > Dept. of Ecology (S) > Dept. of Ecology | ||||||
Deposited By: | SLUpub Connector | ||||||
Deposited On: | 14 Feb 2017 09:34 | ||||||
Metadata Last Modified: | 09 Sep 2020 14:17 |
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