Predator home range size mediates indirect interactions between prey species in an arctic vertebrate community ...

• Main Authors: Dulude-De Broin, Frédéric, Clermont, Jeanne, Beardsell, Andréanne, Ouellet, Louis-Pierre, Legagneux, Pierre, Bety, Joel, Berteaux, Dominique
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2023
• Subjects: apparent competition; Arctic; home range; indirect effects; numerical response; Predation; prey; Tundra; FOS Biological sciences; Bylot Island; Canada; Nunavut; Arctic Fox; Sirmilik National Park
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.f1vhhmh30; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.f1vhhmh30

Indirect interactions are widespread among prey species that share a common predator, but the underlying mechanisms driving these interactions are often unclear, and our ability to predict their outcome is limited. Changes in behavioural traits that impact predator space use could be a key proximal mechanism mediating indirect interactions, but there is little empirical evidence of the causes and consequences of such behavioural-numerical response in multi-species systems. Here, we investigate the complex ecological relationships between seven prey species sharing a common predator. We used a path analysis approach on a comprehensive 9-year dataset simultaneously tracking predator space use, prey densities, and prey mortality rate on key species of a simplified Arctic food-web. We show that high availability of a clumped and spatially predictable prey (goose eggs) leads to a two-fold reduction in predator (arctic fox) home range size, which increases local predator density and strongly decreases nest ... : The data set contains two sheets of data collected from 2008 to 2016 in the southwest plain of Bylot Island (72°530N, 79°540W), in Sirmilik National Park, Nunavut, Canada. Fox home range data. The first data sheet contains home range size of individual foxes estimated from Argos relocation data, the sex and breeding status of the fox, and the availability of lemmings and goose eggs. Raw Argos relocation data are available on Movebank (doi: 10.5441/001/1.3gg33bd4). To quantify fox’s annual home range (95% isopleth), we used autocorrelated kernel density estimation implemented in the ctmm R package. This approach accounts for location accuracy and provides a reliable measure of the estimation error associated to each home range contour. We estimated fox annual home ranges using locations collected between 01 May and 30 October, to maximise data between the onset of goose laying and the end of the ice-free season. We used filtered Argos locations as available in the Movebank data repository (doi: ...