No evidence for spatial variation in predation risk following restricted-area fox culling.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Predation and predator abundance may significantly affect bird populations, especially ground nesting species, because nest predation is often the major cause of nest failure. Predator control by means of culling is frequently employed to benefit threatened prey species or to increase the abundance of small game species for hunting. The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), a generalist mesopredator of global relevance, is a major target of predator control. Commonly, in central Europe, red fox culling efforts intended to benefit prey species remain restricted to small areas. It is unclear, however, whether such restricted-area culling effectively lowers predation risk at a site or whether red fox abundance is more important than culling in shaping predation risk. We conducted an exp

SUBMITTER: Kammerle JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6485072 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature