scholarly journals Predator odours attract other predators, creating an olfactory web of information

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 20151053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter B. Banks ◽  
Andrew Daly ◽  
Jenna P. Bytheway
Keyword(s):  
Red Fox ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Psychology Research ◽  
Competing Species ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Wild Dogs ◽  
Predator Odour

Many studies have reported the aversive reactions of prey towards a predator's odour signals (e.g. urine marks), a behaviour widely thought to reduce the risk of predation by the predator. However, because odour signals persist in the environment, they are vulnerable to exploitation and eavesdropping by predators, prey and conspecifics. As such, scent patches created by one species might attract other species interested in information about their enemies. We studied this phenomenon by examining red fox investigation of odours from conspecifics and competing species in order to understand what prey are responding to when avoiding the odours of a predator. Surprisingly, foxes showed limited interest in conspecific odours but were highly interested in the odours of their competitors (wild dogs and feral cats), suggesting that odours are likely to play an important role in mediating competitive interactions. Importantly, our results identify that simple, dyadic interpretations of prey responses to a predator odour (i.e. cat odour = risk of cat encounter = fear of cats) can no longer be assumed in ecological or psychology research. Instead, interactions mediated by olfactory cues are more complex than previously thought and are likely to form a complicated olfactory web of interactions.

Sharing meals: Predation on Australian mammals by the introduced European red fox compounds and complements predation by feral cats

2021 ◽  
Vol 261 ◽  
pp. 109284
Author(s):  
Alyson M. Stobo-Wilson ◽  
Brett P. Murphy ◽  
Heather M. Crawford ◽  
Stuart J. Dawson ◽  
Chris R. Dickman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Red Fox ◽  
Feral Cats

Effects of bait-station design on the uptake of baits by non-target animals during control programmes for foxes and wild dogs

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair S. Glen ◽  
Chris R. Dickman
Keyword(s):  
Red Fox ◽  
New South ◽  
Ground Surface ◽  
Target Species ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Bait Station ◽  
Control Programmes ◽  
Substantial Risk ◽  
Bait Stations ◽  
Wild Dogs

The removal of non-toxic baits was monitored during a simulated trail-baiting programme for foxes and wild dogs in the central tablelands of New South Wales. Ninety-one buried baits were removed by a number of species including spotted-tailed quolls, Australian brush-turkeys, superb lyrebirds, small mammals, wild dogs and a red fox. Spotted-tailed quolls were significantly less likely to remove baits buried under the ground surface than baits buried in raised mounds of soil. By means of remote photography, individual quolls were identified removing 3–4 baits in one night from bait stations 400 m apart. The results of this study show that spotted-tailed quolls and other non-target species may face substantial risk of consuming baits intended for wild dogs and foxes. However, the risk of poisoning spotted-tailed quolls may be significantly reduced by appropriate planning. Recommendations are made to increase the target-specificity of baiting programmes in areas with populations of spotted-tailed quolls.

scholarly journals Applying modern coexistence theory to priority effects

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (13) ◽  
pp. 6205-6210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Nahanni Grainger ◽  
Andrew D. Letten ◽  
Benjamin Gilbert ◽  
Tadashi Fukami
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rates ◽  
Competitive Exclusion ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Competing Species ◽  
Coexistence Theory ◽  
Dependent Growth ◽  
Established Population ◽  
Positive Frequency

Modern coexistence theory is increasingly used to explain how differences between competing species lead to coexistence versus competitive exclusion. Although research testing this theory has focused on deterministic cases of competitive exclusion, in which the same species always wins, mounting evidence suggests that competitive exclusion is often historically contingent, such that whichever species happens to arrive first excludes the other. Coexistence theory predicts that historically contingent exclusion, known as priority effects, will occur when large destabilizing differences (positive frequency-dependent growth rates of competitors), combined with small fitness differences (differences in competitors’ intrinsic growth rates and sensitivity to competition), create conditions under which neither species can invade an established population of its competitor. Here we extend the empirical application of modern coexistence theory to determine the conditions that promote priority effects. We conducted pairwise invasion tests with four strains of nectar-colonizing yeasts to determine how the destabilizing and fitness differences that drive priority effects are altered by two abiotic factors characterizing the nectar environment: sugar concentration and pH. We found that higher sugar concentrations increased the likelihood of priority effects by reducing fitness differences between competing species. In contrast, higher pH did not change the likelihood of priority effects, but instead made competition more neutral by bringing both fitness differences and destabilizing differences closer to zero. This study demonstrates how the empirical partitioning of priority effects into fitness and destabilizing components can elucidate the pathways through which environmental conditions shape competitive interactions.

scholarly journals Social information drives ecological outcomes among competing species

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Gil ◽  
M.L. Baskett ◽  
S.J. Schreiber
Keyword(s):  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Mutual Exclusion ◽  
Social Information ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Strong Correlations ◽  
Competing Species ◽  
Term Outcome ◽  
Long Term Outcome

AbstractThrough its behavior, an organism intentionally or unintentionally produces information. Use of this ‘social information’ by surrounding conspecifics or heterospecifics is a ubiquitous phenomenon that can drive strong correlations in fitness-associated behaviors, such as predator avoidance, enhancing survival within and among competing species. By eliciting indirect positive interactions between competing individuals or species, social information might alter overall competitive outcomes. To test this potential, we present new theory that quantifies the effect of social information, modeled as predator avoidance signals/cues, on the outcomes from intraspecific and interspecific competition. Our analytical and numerical results reveal that social information can rescue populations from extinction and can shift the long-term outcome of competitive interactions from mutual exclusion to coexistence, or vice versa, depending on the relative strengths of intraspecific and interspecific social information and competition. Our findings highlight the importance of social information in determining ecological outcomes.

Predator odour does not influence trappability of southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus) and common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula)

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina S. A. Mella ◽  
Christine E. Cooper ◽  
Stephen J. J. F. Davies
Keyword(s):  
Avoidance Response ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Trichosurus Vulpecula ◽  
Predator Odour

Predators cause changes in the behaviour of many prey species. This study investigated whether trappability of wild southern brown bandicoots (Isoodon obesulus) and common brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) was influenced by odour cues suggesting the presence of potential predators. Trapping success was compared between traps with predator scents and controls in two different experiments. The first measured trapping success of single clean traps, traps with unfamiliar herbivore (horse) odour and traps scented with predator (fox, cat, quoll and dingo) odours, while the second offered three choices (fox, dingo and clean traps) simultaneously. Frequency of capture of bandicoots and possums was not influenced by odour, mass or sex in either experiment. The lack of avoidance response observed in this study suggests that neither southern brown bandicoots nor common brushtail possums alter foraging behaviour in response to olfactory cues that suggest the presence of exotic or Australian predators. This is consistent with previous studies, which indicate that native Australian marsupials do not avoid predator odours.

scholarly journals Habitat use of coexisting Microtus vole species under competition and predation risk

2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Koivisto ◽  
K.S. Hoset ◽  
O. Huitu ◽  
E. Korpimäki
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Competing Species ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Use Patterns ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Vole Species ◽  
Coexisting Species

Competing species and predators can alter the habitat use of animals, but both factors are rarely simultaneously controlled. We studied in experimental enclosures how closely related species, the sibling vole (Microtus levis Miller, 1908) and the field vole (Microtus agrestis (Linnaeus, 1761)), adjust their habitat use when facing either the competing species or simultaneously competition and predation risk. The species responded differently in their proportional use of two habitat types, a low cover (productive but riskier) and a high cover (safer but poorer). When alone, field voles used the low-cover habitat according to availability at low densities, but decreased its use with increasing density. Sibling voles, however, avoided the low-cover habitat in single-species populations. Under interspecific competition, the habitat-use patterns switched between species: sibling voles used the low-cover habitat according to availability, with decreasing use as densities increased. Sibling voles responded to predation risk by showing a stronger density-dependent decrease in the use of low-cover habitat. Field voles, initially using mostly high cover, did not change behaviour under risk of predation. Our results highlight the importance of considering both predation risk and interspecific competition when interpreting patterns of habitat selection among coexisting species.

The performance of wild-canid traps in Australia: efficiency, selectivity and trap-related injuries

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. S. Fleming ◽  
Lee R. Allen ◽  
Mani J. Berghout ◽  
Paul D. Meek ◽  
Peter M. Pavlov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Red Foxes ◽  
Feral Cats ◽  
Wild Canids ◽  
Wild Canid ◽  
Continued Use ◽  
Wild Dogs

Wild dogs and European red foxes are considered pest animals in Australia. Restraining devices to capture these wild canids are sometimes required by wildlife managers. However, the use of traps is controversial. This paper discusses the efficiency, selectivity and injuries inflicted by some leg-hold traps that are available in Australia for capturing wild canids. The trapping of feral cats with wild-canid traps is also briefly discussed. The most commonly used leg-hold trap in Australia is the toothed, steel-jawed, leg-hold trap. Alternative traps, including offset- and padded-jawed traps (similar to the Victor Soft Catch®), and steel-jawed traps that have been modified to incorporate padding and off-setting of jaws, were shown to be preferable. The alternative traps were as efficient and selective as toothed, steel-jawed traps, but were less injurious. The Treadle snare, although more likely to miss target animals, was also shown to be less injurious than unmodified, steel-jawed leg-hold traps. It is difficult to justify the continued use of unmodified, steel-jawed leg-hold traps for the capture of wild canids in Australia.

scholarly journals Odour cues influence predation risk at artificial bat roosts in urban bushland

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 20121144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caragh Threlfall ◽  
Bradley Law ◽  
Peter B. Banks
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Untreated Control ◽  
Olfactory Cues ◽  
Refresh Rate ◽  
Insectivorous Bats ◽  
Tree Hollows ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Sydney Australia

Odours that accumulate from roosting can attract predators and increase predation risk. Consequently, selection should favour strategies that allow prey to evade detection by predators, including changing roosts. Insectivorous bats that roost in tree hollows regularly switch roosts and roost in different sized groups, strategies that would alter the accumulation of roost odours and are hypothesized to reduce predation risk. We experimentally manipulated the amount and refresh rate of roosting odour cues at 90 artificial bat roosts in Sydney, Australia, to test the hypothesis that odours increase predator visitation. Predators visited roosts with bat faeces significantly more often than untreated control roosts. Roosts with small amounts of faeces mimicking sites used by solitary bats had the greatest rate of visitation. This suggests that bats roosting alone, rather than in groups, have a greater likelihood of disturbance or predation. Roost switching probably decreases the predictability of finding occupied roosts; however, we show that all roosts (those currently or recently occupied) were visited by predators, suggesting generalist urban predators readily investigate potential roosts. This is the first demonstration that bat odours are attractive to predators that use olfactory cues, showing that bats are at risk of predation in visually cryptic roosts.

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