Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment

Abstract The fear large carnivores inspire in large ungulates has been argued to have cascading effects down food webs. However, a direct link between ungulate habitat use and their fear of large carnivores has not been experimentally tested. To fill this critical gap, we conducted a bi-factorial ex...

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Autores principales:	Haley K. Epperly, Michael Clinchy, Liana Y. Zanette, Robert A. McCeery
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/46012053665c40a798bba0b7fb575f99
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:46012053665c40a798bba0b7fb575f992021-12-02T18:02:54ZFear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment10.1038/s41598-021-92469-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/46012053665c40a798bba0b7fb575f992021-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92469-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract The fear large carnivores inspire in large ungulates has been argued to have cascading effects down food webs. However, a direct link between ungulate habitat use and their fear of large carnivores has not been experimentally tested. To fill this critical gap, we conducted a bi-factorial experiment in an African savanna. We removed shrub cover and broadcast large carnivore vocalizations (leopard, hyena, dog) or non-threatening control vocalizations in both experimentally cleared and shrubby control sites. We recorded the proactive (frequency of visitation) and reactive (fleeing or vigilance) responses of multiple prey (impala, warthog, nyala and bushbuck). Critically, we found a significant proactive–reactive interaction. Ungulates were 47% more likely to run after hearing a predator vocalization in shrubby control sites than experimental clearings, demonstrating that ungulates perceived less fear from large carnivores in open habitat (clearings). Consistent with this finding, ungulates visited clearings 2.4 times more often than shrubby control sites and visited shrubby control sites less often at night, when large carnivores are most active. Combined with results from previous experiments demonstrating that the disproportionate use of available habitats by large ungulates can alter ecosystem properties, our experiment provides critical evidence that the fear large carnivores inspire in large ungulates can cause trophic cascades.Haley K. EpperlyMichael ClinchyLiana Y. ZanetteRobert A. McCeeryNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-11 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Haley K. Epperly Michael Clinchy Liana Y. Zanette Robert A. McCeery Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
description	Abstract The fear large carnivores inspire in large ungulates has been argued to have cascading effects down food webs. However, a direct link between ungulate habitat use and their fear of large carnivores has not been experimentally tested. To fill this critical gap, we conducted a bi-factorial experiment in an African savanna. We removed shrub cover and broadcast large carnivore vocalizations (leopard, hyena, dog) or non-threatening control vocalizations in both experimentally cleared and shrubby control sites. We recorded the proactive (frequency of visitation) and reactive (fleeing or vigilance) responses of multiple prey (impala, warthog, nyala and bushbuck). Critically, we found a significant proactive–reactive interaction. Ungulates were 47% more likely to run after hearing a predator vocalization in shrubby control sites than experimental clearings, demonstrating that ungulates perceived less fear from large carnivores in open habitat (clearings). Consistent with this finding, ungulates visited clearings 2.4 times more often than shrubby control sites and visited shrubby control sites less often at night, when large carnivores are most active. Combined with results from previous experiments demonstrating that the disproportionate use of available habitats by large ungulates can alter ecosystem properties, our experiment provides critical evidence that the fear large carnivores inspire in large ungulates can cause trophic cascades.
format	article
author	Haley K. Epperly Michael Clinchy Liana Y. Zanette Robert A. McCeery
author_facet	Haley K. Epperly Michael Clinchy Liana Y. Zanette Robert A. McCeery
author_sort	Haley K. Epperly
title	Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
title_short	Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
title_full	Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
title_fullStr	Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
title_full_unstemmed	Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
title_sort	fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/46012053665c40a798bba0b7fb575f99
work_keys_str_mv	AT haleykepperly fearoflargecarnivoresistiedtoungulatehabitatuseevidencefromabifactorialexperiment AT michaelclinchy fearoflargecarnivoresistiedtoungulatehabitatuseevidencefromabifactorialexperiment AT lianayzanette fearoflargecarnivoresistiedtoungulatehabitatuseevidencefromabifactorialexperiment AT robertamcceery fearoflargecarnivoresistiedtoungulatehabitatuseevidencefromabifactorialexperiment
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Fear of large carnivores is tied to ungulate habitat use: evidence from a bifactorial experiment

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