Data from: Avian top predator and the landscape of fear: responses of mammalian mesopredators to risk imposed by the golden eagle ...

• Main Authors: Lyly, Mari S., Villers, Alexandre, Koivisto, Elina, Helle, Pekka, Ollila, Tuomo, Korpimäki, Erkki
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2015
• Subjects: red fox; golden eagle; Grouse; pine marten; mountain hare; Aquila chrysaetos
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qc6nv; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.qc6nv

Top predators may induce extensive cascading effects on lower trophic levels, for example, through intraguild predation (IGP). The impacts of both mammalian and avian top predators on species of the same class have been extensively studied, but the effects of the latter upon mammalian mesopredators are not yet as well known. We examined the impact of the predation risk imposed by a large avian predator, the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos, L.), on its potential mammalian mesopredator prey, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes, L.), and the pine marten (Martes martes, L.). The study combined 23 years of countrywide data from nesting records of eagles and wildlife track counts of mesopredators in Finland, northern Europe. The predation risk of the golden eagle was modeled as a function of territory density, density of fledglings produced, and distance to nearest active eagle territory, with the expectation that a high predation risk would reduce the abundances of smaller sized pine martens in particular. Red foxes ... : Observed game abundances and estimated eagle densities in Finland, 1989-2011File contains data from Finnish wildlife triangle census (winters 1989-2011) and the yearly estimated eagle densities at these census triangle locations. triangleID= the identifier of an individual triangle. mhare= observed tracks of mountain hare. rfox= observed tracks of red fox. pmarten= observed tracks of pine marten. grouse= sightings of grouse (sum of capercaillie, black grouse, willow grouse and hazel grouse). accday= accumulation of snow tracks in days. dnn= distance to nearest active eagle nest. forest= percentage of forest in landscape within 5 km radius (CORILIS). farm= percentage of farmland in landscape within 5 km radius (CORILIS). terrdens= estimated density of active golden eagle territories (number refers to sigma used in the smoothing). fledgedens= estimated density of golden eagle fledglings in the previous year (number refers to sigma used in the smoothing).Data_GEgame.txt ...