Sum of fears among intraguild predators drives the survival of green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) eggs.

ABSTRACT: Ecologists have long theorized that apex predators stabilize trophic systems by exerting a net protective effect on the basal resource of a food web. Although experimental and observational studies have borne this out, it is not always clear what behavioural mechanisms among the trophically connected species are responsible for this stability. Fear of intraguild predation is commonly identified as one such mechanism in models and mesocosm studies, but empirical evidence in natural systems remains limited, as the complexity of many trophic systems renders detailed behavioural studies of species interactions challenging. Here, we combine long-term field observations of a trophic system in nature with experimental behavioural studies of how all the species in this system interact, in both pai

SUBMITTER: Liao CP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7893228 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature