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Predator Community (predator + community)
Selected AbstractsEffects of predatory ants on lower trophic levels across a gradient of coffee management complexityJOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY, Issue 3 2008S. M. Philpott Summary 1Ants are important predators in agricultural systems, and have complex and often strong effects on lower trophic levels. Agricultural intensification reduces habitat complexity, food web diversity and structure, and affects predator communities. Theory predicts that strong top-down cascades are less likely to occur as habitat and food web complexity decrease. 2To examine relationships between habitat complexity and predator effects, we excluded ants from coffee plants in coffee agroecosystems varying in vegetation complexity. Specifically, we studied the effects of eliminating ants on arthropod assemblages, herbivory, damage by the coffee berry borer and coffee yields in four sites differing in management intensification. We also sampled ant assemblages in each management type to see whether changes in ant assemblages relate to any observed changes in top-down effects. 3Removing ants did not change total arthropod densities, herbivory, coffee berry borer damage or coffee yields. Ants did affect densities of some arthropod orders, but did not affect densities of different feeding groups. The effects of ants on lower trophic levels did not change with coffee management intensity. 4Diversity and activity of ants on experimental plants did not change with coffee intensification, but the ant species composition differed. 5Although variation in habitat complexity may affect trophic cascades, manipulating predatory ants across a range of coffee agroecosystems varying in management intensity did not result in differing effects on arthropod assemblages, herbivory, coffee berry borer attack or coffee yields. Thus, there is no clear pattern that top-down effects of ants in coffee agroecosystems intensify or dampen with decreased habitat complexity. [source] Investigator activities reduce nest predation in blackbirds Turdus merulaJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo The effect of investigator perturbance has been traditionally considered detrimental for avian nesting success in terms of enhanced nest predation. This conclusion was however based on a taxonomically biased group of species and, thus, the study of that effect in additional species was essential for reaching a more firm conclusion. Furthermore, although it has been suggested that the effect of nest visiting could also depend on nest predator community, no study has so far tested this hypothesis yet. Trying to detect possible influence of nest-visiting rates and predator community on nesting success we visited European blackbird Turdus merula nests at two different experimental rates in two populations that considerably differ in the composition of their nest predator communities and natural nest predation rates. Contrary to the traditional ideas, our results not only show that investigator disturbance significantly reduces nest predation, but also that this reduction is maintained in both populations despite the difference in the community of nest predators. We discuss these findings and suggest that predators, especially mammals, might avoid places disturbed by investigators. [source] Forest fragmentation relaxes natural nest predation in an Afromontane forestANIMAL CONSERVATION, Issue 4 2009T. Spanhove Abstract Nest predation is widely regarded as a major driver underlying the population dynamics of small forest birds. Following forest fragmentation and the subsequent invasion by species from non-forested landscape matrices, shifts in predator communities may increase nest predation near forest edges. However, effects of human-driven habitat change on nest predation have mainly been inferred from studies with artificial nests, despite being regarded as poor surrogates for natural ones. We studied variation in predation rates, and relationships with timing of breeding and characteristics of microhabitats and fragments, on natural white-starred robin Pogonocichla stellata nests during three consecutive breeding seasons (2004,2007) in a Kenyan fragmented cloud forest. More than 70% of all initiated nests were predated during each breeding season. Predation rates nearly quadrupled between the earliest and the latest nests within a single breeding season, increased with distance to the forest edge, and decreased with the edge-to-area ratio of forest fragments. These spatial relationships oppose the traditional perception of edge and fragmentation effects on nest predation, but are in line with results from artificial nest experiments in other East African forests. In case of inverse edge and fragmentation effects on nest predation, such as shown in this study, species that tolerate edges for breeding may be affected positively, rather than negatively, by forest fragmentation, while the opposite can be expected for species restricted to the forest interior. The possibility of inverse edge effects, and its conservation implications, should therefore be taken into account when drafting habitat restoration plans. [source] Numerical and dietary responses of a predator community in a temperate zone of EuropeECOGRAPHY, Issue 2 2009Gilles Dupuy The generalist predation hypothesis predicts that the functional responses of generalist predator species should be quicker than those of specialist predators and have a regulating effect on vole populations. New interpretations of their role in temperate ecosystems have, however, reactivated a debate suggesting generalist predators may have a destabilizing effect under certain conditions (e.g. landscape homogeneity, low prey diversity, temporary dominance of 1 prey species associated with a high degree of dietary specialization). We studied a rich predator community dominated by generalist carnivores (Martes spp., Vulpes vulpes, Felis catus) over a 6 yr period in farmland and woodland in France. The most frequent prey were small rodents (mostly Microtus arvalis, a grassland species, and Apodemus spp., a woodland species). Alternative prey were diverse and dominated by lagomorphs (Oryctolagus cuniculus, Lepus europeus). We detected a numerical response among specialist carnivores but not among generalist predators. The dietary responses of generalist predators were fairly complex and most often dependent on variation in density of at least 1 prey species. These results support the generalist predation hypothesis. We document a switch to alternative prey, an increase of diet diversity, and a decrease of diet overlap between small and medium-sized generalists during the low density phase of M. arvalis. In this ecosystem, the high density phases of small mammal species are synchronous and cause a temporary specializing of several generalist predator species. This rapid functional response may indicate the predominant role of generalists in low amplitude population cycles of voles observed in some temperate areas. [source] Impact of predators on artificially augmented populations of Lymantria dispar L. pupae (Lep., Lymantriidae)JOURNAL OF APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY, Issue 2-3 2002T. Gschwantner The impact of predators on artificially augmented populations of Lymantria dispar pupae (Lep., Lymantriidae) and the species composition of the predator community were investigated in two oak stands in eastern Austria. The population density of L. dispar has been at innocuous levels for several years at both sites. From mid-June to mid-July, we created artificial prey populations by mounting gypsy moth pupae with beeswax on burlap bands placed at the base, 25, 50 and 100 cm height on 25 trees at each site. A total of 6600 pupae were exposed at each site. A total of 92% of exposed pupae were destroyed by predators, at site I (with dense understorey vegetation) whereas 67% were destroyed on site II (with sparse understorey vegetation). Initially, pupal mortality was highest at the base of trees, but differences in mortality among the four locations where pupae were exposed decreased during the course of the study period. Spatial differences in predation were ascertained, suggesting that the aggregation of small mammals, for example, is related to patches of dense shrub vegetation. Pupal mortality was primarily caused by mice (46.3% at site I and 36.4% at site II). Many exposed pupae simply disappeared (40.4% at site I and 22.8% at site II). Calosoma spp. and other invertebrate predators caused very little mortality among L. dispar pupae (5.5% at site I and 7.8% at site II). Trap catches on separate study plots at both sites revealed that Apodemus flavicollis (Rodentia, Muridae) was the most important predator species present, whereas Apodemus sylvaticus (Rodentia, Muridae) and Clethrionomys glareolus (Rodentia, Arvicolidae) were captured in low numbers. [source] Investigator activities reduce nest predation in blackbirds Turdus merulaJOURNAL OF AVIAN BIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010Juan Diego Ibáñez-Álamo The effect of investigator perturbance has been traditionally considered detrimental for avian nesting success in terms of enhanced nest predation. This conclusion was however based on a taxonomically biased group of species and, thus, the study of that effect in additional species was essential for reaching a more firm conclusion. Furthermore, although it has been suggested that the effect of nest visiting could also depend on nest predator community, no study has so far tested this hypothesis yet. Trying to detect possible influence of nest-visiting rates and predator community on nesting success we visited European blackbird Turdus merula nests at two different experimental rates in two populations that considerably differ in the composition of their nest predator communities and natural nest predation rates. Contrary to the traditional ideas, our results not only show that investigator disturbance significantly reduces nest predation, but also that this reduction is maintained in both populations despite the difference in the community of nest predators. We discuss these findings and suggest that predators, especially mammals, might avoid places disturbed by investigators. [source] Direct and indirect effects of masting on rodent populations and tree seed survivalOIKOS, Issue 3 2002Jaclyn L. Schnurr Many plant species are thought to benefit from mast seeding as a result of increased seed survival through predator satiation. However, in communities with many different masting species, lack of synchrony in seed production among species may decrease seed survival by maintaining seed predator populations through the intermast cycle. Similarly, masting by different plant species may have different effects on the seed predator community. We conducted a three-year study in a northeastern USA temperate deciduous forest to determine if production of large seed crops by several tree species was synchronous, and if they had similar effects on all small mammal species. We found that red oak mast crops resulted in increased densities of Peromyscus leucopus and P. maniculatus, but had no effect on Clethrionomys gapperi abundance. Conversely, C. gapperi populations, but not Peromyscus populations, appeared to increase in response to a large red maple seed crop. Differences in small mammal abundance resulted in changes in species-specific seed survival: in the year of abundant C. gapperi, experimentally placed red oak acorns had significantly higher survival than in the year of high Peromyscus abundance. Red oak acorn removal was positively correlated with Peromyscus abundance, while red maple seed removal was significantly higher with increased C. gapperi abundance. Thus, species-specific seed production had differential effects on subsequent small mammal abundance, which in turn affected seed survival. We suggest that at the level of the community, even short-term lack of synchrony in production of large seed crops can cause variation in postdispersal seed survival, through differential effects on the community of small mammal seed predators. [source] | ||||||||||