Predator arrival elicits differential dispersal, change in age structure and reproductive performance in a prey population.

ABSTRACT: Predators are an important ecological and evolutionary force shaping prey population dynamics. Ecologists have extensively assessed the lethal effects of invasive predators on prey populations. However, the role of non-lethal effects, such as physiological stress or behavioural responses like dispersal, has been comparatively overlooked and their potential population effects remain obscure. Over the last 23 years, we developed a mark-recapture program for the Audouin's gull and an intensive carnivore monitoring program to assess how the appearance and invasion of the study site by carnivores affects population dynamics. We evaluate changes in turnover of discrete breeding patches within the colony, age structure and breeding performance. Once carnivores entered the colony, the number of oc

SUBMITTER: Payo-Payo A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5792507 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature