Modelling the combined effect of an obligate predator and a facultative predator on a common prey: lynx Lynx lynx and wolverine Gulo gulo predation on reindeer Rangifer tarandus

• Published in: Wildlife Biology
• Main Authors: Andrén, Henrik, Persson, Jens, Mattisson, Jenny, Danell, Anna C.
• Other Authors: Naturvårdsverket, Marie-Claire Cronstedts Stiftelse
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2011
• Subjects: Gulo gulo; Rangifer tarandus; reindeer husbandry; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2981/10-065; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2981/10-065; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.2981/10-065

Abstract In conservation and management of large predators, effects of species are often considered separately. However, predators often interact with one another in different ways (e.g. interspecific competition, intra guild predation and kleptoparasitism) that may influence the total predation on a common prey. We estimated the total number of semi‐domestic reindeer Rangifer tarandus killed by Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and wolverine Gulo gulo at different relative abundances of the two species using a model based on diet, food requirements of lynx and wolverine and amount of food available on a reindeer. Our model suggests that total predation decreases by approximately 7.9% (± 4.8 SD) if wolverines scavenge on lynx‐killed reindeer, compared to a model without scavenging. If the management goal is a constant number of predators, the model suggests that the total kill rate will be lowest in areas with only wolverines, as the estimated wolverine kill rate is much lower than the lynx kill rate. Our model showed that it is unlikely that the lowest number of reindeer killed per predator individual will be at a certain lynx‐wolverine ratio, which would appear if lynx consumption of killed reindeer is low and wolverines are very efficient finding lynx‐killed reindeer. However, if the management goal is a constant number of lynx and wolverines, the model suggests that the total predation is lower, if lynx and wolverines coexist in the same area compared to existing separately in different areas. The total predation by wolverine and lynx on reindeer is very important for the management of lynx and wolverine in the reindeer husbandry area in Sweden, as the current compensation scheme for predator‐killed semi‐domestic reindeer is based on the number of predators present within a reindeer herding district, and the compensation for wolverine and lynx is added independently of one another.