Human shields mediate sexual conflict in a top predator

Selecting the right habitat in a risky landscape is crucial for an individual's survival and reproduction. In predator–prey systems, prey often can anticipate the habitat use of their main predator and may use protective associates (i.e. typically an apex predator) as shields against predation....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Main Authors: Sam M. J. G. Steyaert, Sven Brunberg, Jon E. Swenson, Jonas Kindberg, Andreas Zedrosser, Fanie Pelletier, Martin Leclerc
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: The Royal Society 2016
Subjects:
14
60
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0906
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4936045
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2016.0906
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2016.0906
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2016.0906
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4936045/
http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/27335423
https://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/283/1833/20160906
https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2466993260
Description
Summary:Selecting the right habitat in a risky landscape is crucial for an individual's survival and reproduction. In predator–prey systems, prey often can anticipate the habitat use of their main predator and may use protective associates (i.e. typically an apex predator) as shields against predation. Although never tested, such mechanisms should also evolve in systems in which sexual conflict affects offspring survival. Here, we assessed the relationship between offspring survival and habitat selection, as well as the use of protective associates, in a system in which sexually selected infanticide (SSI), rather than interspecific predation, affects offspring survival. We used the Scandinavian brown bear ( Ursus arctos ) population with SSI in a human-dominated landscape as our model system. Bears, especially adult males, generally avoid humans in our study system. We used resource selection functions to contrast habitat selection of GPS-collared mothers that were successful (i.e. surviving litters, n = 19) and unsuccessful (i.e. complete litter loss, n = 11) in keeping their young during the mating season (2005–2012). Habitat selection was indeed a predictor of litter survival. Successful mothers were more likely to use humans as protective associates, whereas unsuccessful mothers avoided humans. Our results suggest that principles of predator–prey and fear ecology theory (e.g. non-consumptive and cascading effects) can also be applied to the context of sexual conflict.