Tolerance of wolves shapes desert canid communities in the Middle East

Bonsen, Gavin T.; Wallach, Arian D.; Ben‐Ami, Dror; Keynan, Oded; Khalilieh, Anton; Shanas, Uri; Wooster, Eamonn I. F.; Ramp, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02139

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Persecution of predators can lead to the alteration of activity patterns, with cascading effects on prey (Bonsen et al 2022). Dingoes were primarily diurnal at predator friendly and predator persecuted sites, and foxes avoided these times by being primarily nocturnal.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear

Wooster

Ramp

Lundgren

et al. 2022

Oikos

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Apex predators structure ecosystems by hunting mesopredators and herbivores. Their ecological influence is determined not only by the number of animals they kill, but also by how prey alter their behaviours to reduce risk. Predation risk is variable in space and time creating a landscape of fear. In Australia, dingoes hunt red foxes and suppress their populations. As both predators are commonly subjected to eradication programs, the question arises whether humans alter the risk dingoes pose to foxes and in turn alter the foxes' avoidance behaviours. We studied the spatio-temporal activity patterns and wariness behaviours of foxes and dingoes at sites where they were protected (predator friendly), where they were persecuted (predator persecuted), and at sites where foxes were persecuted, and dingoes had been eradicated (dingo eradicated). The landscape of fear hypothesis predicts that foxes will be the most spatiotemporally restricted and most fearful at predator friendly sites, and least restricted and fearful at dingo eradicated sites. We found that fox occupancy was highest at dingo eradicated sites; and that they avoided times of heightened dingo activity at predator friendly sites more than at predator persecuted sites. Contrary to predictions, foxes were the least fearful (lowest frequency of cautious and vigilant behaviour) and most social (highest frequency of social interactions) at predator friendly sites. Our findings suggest that in the absence of persecution, mesopredators living with socially-stable apex predators can anticipate and avoid risk, reducing the need for constant vigilance (i.e. fear). Where predators are protected, predator avoidance may be driven by knowledge rather than fear alone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear

Wooster

Ramp

Lundgren

et al. 2022

Oikos

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“…The area contains small agricultural villages and fields of intensive crop and dairy farming surrounding nature reserves. The local predator community consists of Arabian wolves C. lupus arabs , golden jackals C. aureus , red foxes, wild cats Felis silvestris , all of whom are protected (Bonsen et al 2022) and native. Predators are protected from human persecution by law in Israel.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Study species lists the small mammals who participated in the giving up density experiments, based on identification from camera traps. Predators present lists the large mammalian predators the occur at each of the study sites from Grinnell (1937), Wooster et al (2021) and Bonsen et al (2022) (Lundgren et al 2022). Foxes and their small mammal prey coevolved in Death Valley meaning they have likely been sympatric for more than 10 000 years.…”

Section: Field Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prey responses to foxes are not determined by nativeness

Wooster,

Ramp,

Lundgren

et al. 2024

Ecography

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Introduced predators are thought to be responsible for the decline and extinction of their native prey. The prey naivety hypothesis provides a mechanism for these declines, suggesting that native prey are vulnerable to introduced predators as their coevolutionary history is insufficiently long for antipredator behaviours to fully develop. The prey naivety hypothesis thus predicts that prey will be less responsive to introduced predators than to native predators. Australia's endemic small mammals are thought to be vulnerable to predation by red foxes because they are less responsive to – or naive of – a predator with whom they have only co‐occurred since the 19th century. To test whether nativeness determines antipredator behaviours we compared small mammal behavioural responses to fox scent outside (Australia) and inside the foxes' native range (North America and Israel). We conducted giving‐up density experiments in the deserts of these three regions and evaluated small mammal antipredator responses to fox scent. To place these results in a broader context, we then integrated our results into a global meta‐analysis of studies assessing prey responsiveness to fox scent. All small mammals similarly increased their vigilance in response to fox scent, regardless of their coevolutionary history with foxes. Australian small mammals responded with greater wariness to fox scent, by decreasing time at food patches in response to fox scent more than Israeli and American small mammals did. However, we found no evidence that this behaviour influenced foraging as nut consumption was unaffected. Our meta‐analysis revealed that globally, small mammals respond with similar wariness to fox scent regardless of whether foxes are their native predator. We found no evidence that Australian small mammals respond in a maladaptive manner, compared to the foxes' native prey. Our results suggest that animals can develop antipredator behaviours to introduced predators to the same magnitude as native prey.

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“…These include local native and invasive species associated with agricultural landscapes due to additional food, water, and habitat resources supporting their distributions (Figure 2). Native predators include the red fox and Arabian wolf (regional apex predator; Bonsen et al, 2022), both of which are desert‐adapted species present in the region before the initiation of intensive agriculture (Hefner & Geffen, 1999; Shapira et al, 2008). The golden jackal is a recent invader to the region, believed to have invaded from the southern Jordan Valley.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social‐ecological cascade effects of land use on vertebrate pest dynamics in arid agricultural communities

Lewin

Erinjery

Nissim³

et al. 2023

Ecological Applications

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Extensive land conversion to agriculture in drylands and associated resource use have wide-ranging impacts on desert ecosystems globally. Incorporating the impacts of human-social aspects is thus imperative in examining ecological interactions. The provision of agricultural inputs in these resource-scarce regions supports invasive and pest species, negatively impacting both agricultural productivity and native desert ecosystems. Understanding the spatial dynamics of invasive and pest species requires analyzing both bottom-up resource availability factors underlying animal distributions and top-down biological controls. Here, we evaluate the social-ecological cascading effects of dryland agriculture on vertebrate pest communities in dryland agricultural communities of Israel. Our study region is characterized by 18 agricultural cooperatives with distinct crop regimes due to contrasting social decision-making and resource allocation schemes (i.e., communal kibbutzim vs. privatized moshavim). Crop choices further affect land management (e.g., enclosed vs. open farm systems) and resource intensity. This system is ideal for studying trophic mechanisms underlying animal assemblages between agricultural regimes. We examine the role of

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Tolerance of wolves shapes desert canid communities in the Middle East

Cited by 5 publications

References 27 publications

Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear

Predator protection dampens the landscape of fear

Prey responses to foxes are not determined by nativeness

Social‐ecological cascade effects of land use on vertebrate pest dynamics in arid agricultural communities

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