effects of dominant scavengers on solitary predators
Miha Krofel (Author), Ivan Kos (Author), Klemen Jerina (Author)

Abstract

Scavenging is an important but poorly understood ecological process. Dominant scavengers can impose a selection pressure that alters the predator’s fitness, morphology, behavior, and ecology. Interactions between ursids, likely the most important dominant scavengers in the Holarctic region, and solitar felids, which are characterized by long feeding times, provide a good opportunity for studying the effects of kleptoparasitism by dominant scavengers. We analyzed the effects of scavenging by brown bears Ursus arctos on Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx and predator’s response to kleptoparasitism in a European temperate forest ecosystem. Bears found 32% of lynx prey remains and 15% of all biomass of large prey killed by lynx was lost to bears. In response, lynx increased their kill rate by 23% but were able to compensate for only 59% of the losses. The frequency of bear scavenging was strongly dependent on bear activity patterns and was highest during the lynx pregnancy and lactation period, when up to half of lynx kills were usurped by bears. We suggest that ursid scavenging, by promoting the hunting of smaller prey, may have played an important role in the evolution of the Lynx genus as well as other predators in the Holarctic. Our study indicates that prey loss to dominant scavengers is a widespread phenomenon among felids worldwide, including forest habitats. We highlight several implications of scavenging that could considerably improve our understanding of the ecology of vertebrate communities and the evolution of predators as well as benefit the future management and conservation of endangered predators.

Keywords

competition;interspecific interactions;kleptoparasitism;lynx;temperate forest;

Data

Language: English
Year of publishing:
Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
Organization: UL BF - Biotechnical Faculty
UDC: 591
COBISS: 2609231 Link will open in a new window
ISSN: 0340-5443
Views: 1341
Downloads: 297
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Other data

Secondary keywords: Lynx lynx;Ursus arctos;
Type (COBISS): Not categorized
Pages: str. 1297-1304
Volume: ǂVol. ǂ66
Issue: ǂno. ǂ9
Chronology: 2012
DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1384-6
ID: 1446820
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