Predicting carrying capacity of a large carnivore from prey densities: a new approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Large carnivores play a crucial role in maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. Successful conservation initiatives have often led to a huge increase in predators which has often led to negative interactions with humans. Without the knowledge of the carrying capacity of the top predator, such decisions become challenging. Here, we have derived a new equation to estimate the carrying capacity of tigers based on the individual prey species density.

Methods

We used tiger densities and respective prey densities of different protected areas. Relative prey abundance was used instead of absolute prey density as this could be a better surrogate of the prey preference. We used a regression approach to derive the species-wise equation. We have also scaled these coefficien

SUBMITTER: Chatterjee N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10676078 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature