Number of the records: 1

Testing mechanistic explanations for mammalian predator responses to habitat edges

SYSNO ASEP	0360044
Document Type	J - Journal Article
R&D Document Type	Journal Article
Subsidiary J	Článek ve WOS
Title	Testing mechanistic explanations for mammalian predator responses to habitat edges
Author(s)	Svobodová, J. (CZ) Kreisinger, J. (CZ) Šálek, Martin (UEK-B) Koubová, M. (CZ) Albrecht, Tomáš (UBO-W)_{RID, SAI, ORCID}
Number of authors	5
Source Title	European Journal of Wildlife Research. - : Springer - ISSN 1612-4642 Roč. 57, č. 3 (2011), s. 467-474
Number of pages	8 s.
Language	eng - English
Country	US - United States
Keywords	Edge effect ; Habitat fragmentation ; Mesopredators ; Nest predation ; Prey distribution
Subject RIV	EH - Ecology, Behaviour
R&D Projects	1P05OC078 GA MŠMT - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS)
	GA524/06/0687 GA ČR - Czech Science Foundation (CSF)
	LC06073 GA MŠMT - Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MEYS)
CEZ	AV0Z60930519 - UBO-W (2005-2011)
	AV0Z60870520 - UEK-B (2005-2011)
UT WOS	000290771400009
EID SCOPUS	79956288669
DOI	10.1007/s10344-010-0455-0
Annotation	Increased predator activity along habitat edges (the edge effect) is often documented in the temperate zone, but earlier studies have rarely been able to explicitly test the suggested mechanisms underlining this phenomenon. In this study, we measured the distribution of mammalian predators by scent stations and their main prey (rodents) in four types of landscape elements corresponding to an edge gradient between two habitat types; grassland and forest. We found a contrasting pattern in carnivore activities between years. Whereas carnivores did not exhibit a significant occurrence along the forest-grassland edge in the first year with low prey abundance, they were more likely to be detected along habitat edges in the subsequent year with high prey abundance. Our results do not suggest that the increased activity of carnivores at habitat edges arises as a consequence of predator overflow from higher quality habitat through the edge into lower quality habitat, but showed that most predator species focus their activity specifically to the edge structure. On the other hand, our data do not provide straightforward support for the hypothesis that predator edge preferences are caused by a spatial gradient in carnivores' main prey-rodents.
Workplace	Institute of Vertebrate Biology
Contact	Hana Slabáková, slabakova@ivb.cz, Tel.: 543 422 524
Year of Publishing	2012

Number of the records: 1