Predation risk is a function of alternative prey availability rather than predator abundance in a tropical savanna woodland ecosystem.

ABSTRACT: Typically, factors influencing predation risk are viewed only from the perspective of predators or prey populations but few studies have examined predation risk in the context of a food web. We tested two competing hypotheses regarding predation: (1) predation risk is dependent on predator density; and (2) predation risk is dependent on the availability of alternative prey sources. We use an empirical, multi-level, tropical food web (birds-lizards-invertebrates) and a mensurative experiment (seasonal fluctuations in abundance and artificial lizards to estimate predation risk) to test these hypotheses. Birds were responsible for the majority of attacks on artificial lizards and were more abundant in the wet season. Artificial lizards were attacked more frequently in the dry than the wet sea

SUBMITTER: Nordberg EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6531519 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature