In the absence of a "landscape of fear": How lions, hyenas, and cheetahs coexist.

ABSTRACT: Aggression by top predators can create a "landscape of fear" in which subordinate predators restrict their activity to low-risk areas or times of day. At large spatial or temporal scales, this can result in the costly loss of access to resources. However, fine-scale reactive avoidance may minimize the risk of aggressive encounters for subordinate predators while maintaining access to resources, thereby providing a mechanism for coexistence. We investigated fine-scale spatiotemporal avoidance in a guild of African predators characterized by intense interference competition. Vulnerable to food stealing and direct killing, cheetahs are expected to avoid both larger predators; hyenas are expected to avoid lions. We deployed a grid of 225 camera traps across 1,125 km² in Serengeti Na

SUBMITTER: Swanson A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5167031 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature