Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway
Interactions among coexisting mesocarnivores can be influenced by different factors such as the presence of large carnivores, land-use, environmental productivity, or human disturbance. Disentangling the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down processes can be challenging, but it is important...
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ftslunivuppsala:oai:pub.epsilon.slu.se:33372 2024-05-19T07:38:45+00:00 Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway Hofmeester, Tim 2024 application/pdf https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/33372/ https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/33372/1/cano-martinez-r-et-al-20240419.pdf en eng eng https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/33372/1/cano-martinez-r-et-al-20240419.pdf Hofmeester, Tim (2024). Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway. Ecology and Evolution. 14 :3 , e11064 [Research article] Ecology Environmental Sciences (social aspects to be 507) Research article NonPeerReviewed 2024 ftslunivuppsala 2024-04-23T23:38:22Z Interactions among coexisting mesocarnivores can be influenced by different factors such as the presence of large carnivores, land-use, environmental productivity, or human disturbance. Disentangling the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down processes can be challenging, but it is important for biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. The aim of this study was to assess how the interactions among mesocarnivores (red fox Vulpes vulpes, badger Meles meles, and pine marten Martes martes) were affected by large carnivores (Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and wolf Canis lupus), land cover variables (proportion of agricultural land and primary productivity), and human disturbance, as well as how these top-down and bottom-up mechanisms were influenced by season. We analyzed 3 years (2018-2020) of camera trapping observations from Norway and used structural equation models to assess hypothesized networks of causal relationships. Our results showed that land cover variables were more strongly associated with mesocarnivore detection rates than large carnivores in Norway. This might be caused by a combination of low density of large carnivores in an unproductive ecosystem with strong seasonality. Additionally, detection rates of all mesocarnivores showed positive associations among each other, which were stronger in winter. The prevalence of positive interactions among predators might indicate a tendency to use the same areas and resources combined with weak interference competition. Alternatively, it might indicate some kind of facilitative relationship among species. Human disturbance had contrasting effects for different species, benefiting the larger mesocarnivores (red fox and badger) probably through food subsidization, but negatively affecting apex predators (wolf and lynx) and smaller mesocarnivores (pine marten). In a human-dominated world, this highlights the importance of including anthropogenic influences in the study of species interactions.We used 3 years of camera trap data from Norway to assess ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Epsilon Open Archive |
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Open Polar |
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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU): Epsilon Open Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftslunivuppsala |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology Environmental Sciences (social aspects to be 507) |
spellingShingle |
Ecology Environmental Sciences (social aspects to be 507) Hofmeester, Tim Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway |
topic_facet |
Ecology Environmental Sciences (social aspects to be 507) |
description |
Interactions among coexisting mesocarnivores can be influenced by different factors such as the presence of large carnivores, land-use, environmental productivity, or human disturbance. Disentangling the relative importance of bottom-up and top-down processes can be challenging, but it is important for biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. The aim of this study was to assess how the interactions among mesocarnivores (red fox Vulpes vulpes, badger Meles meles, and pine marten Martes martes) were affected by large carnivores (Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and wolf Canis lupus), land cover variables (proportion of agricultural land and primary productivity), and human disturbance, as well as how these top-down and bottom-up mechanisms were influenced by season. We analyzed 3 years (2018-2020) of camera trapping observations from Norway and used structural equation models to assess hypothesized networks of causal relationships. Our results showed that land cover variables were more strongly associated with mesocarnivore detection rates than large carnivores in Norway. This might be caused by a combination of low density of large carnivores in an unproductive ecosystem with strong seasonality. Additionally, detection rates of all mesocarnivores showed positive associations among each other, which were stronger in winter. The prevalence of positive interactions among predators might indicate a tendency to use the same areas and resources combined with weak interference competition. Alternatively, it might indicate some kind of facilitative relationship among species. Human disturbance had contrasting effects for different species, benefiting the larger mesocarnivores (red fox and badger) probably through food subsidization, but negatively affecting apex predators (wolf and lynx) and smaller mesocarnivores (pine marten). In a human-dominated world, this highlights the importance of including anthropogenic influences in the study of species interactions.We used 3 years of camera trap data from Norway to assess ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hofmeester, Tim |
author_facet |
Hofmeester, Tim |
author_sort |
Hofmeester, Tim |
title |
Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway |
title_short |
Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway |
title_full |
Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway |
title_fullStr |
Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway |
title_sort |
bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in norway |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/33372/ https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/33372/1/cano-martinez-r-et-al-20240419.pdf |
genre |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
genre_facet |
Canis lupus Lynx Lynx lynx lynx |
op_relation |
https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/33372/1/cano-martinez-r-et-al-20240419.pdf Hofmeester, Tim (2024). Bottom-up rather than top-down mechanisms determine mesocarnivore interactions in Norway. Ecology and Evolution. 14 :3 , e11064 [Research article] |
_version_ |
1799478233246203904 |