Habitat mediates coevolved but not novel species interactions.

ABSTRACT: Ongoing recovery of native predators has the potential to alter species interactions, with community and ecosystem wide implications. We estimated the co-occurrence of three species of conservation and management interest from a multi-species citizen science camera trap survey. We demonstrate fundamental differences in novel and coevolved predator-prey interactions that are mediated by habitat. Specifically, we demonstrate that anthropogenic habitat modification had no influence on the expansion of the recovering native pine marten in Ireland, nor does it affect the predator's suppressive influence on an invasive prey species, the grey squirrel. By contrast, the direction of the interaction between the pine marten and a native prey species, the red squirrel, is dependent on habitat. Pine m

SUBMITTER: Twining JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8753165 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature