A seasonal pulse of ungulate neonates influences space use by carnivores in a multi-predator, multi-prey system.

ABSTRACT: The behavioral mechanisms by which predators encounter prey are poorly resolved. In particular, the extent to which predators engage in active search for prey versus incidentally encountering them has not been well studied in many systems and particularly not for neonate prey during the birth pulse. Parturition of many large herbivores occurs during a short and predictable temporal window in which young are highly vulnerable to predation. Our study aims to determine how a suite of carnivores responds to the seasonal pulse of newborn ungulates using contemporaneous global positioning system (GPS) locations of four species of predators and two species of prey. We used step-selection functions to assess whether coyotes, cougars, black bears, and bobcats encountered parturient adult female ung

SUBMITTER: Ruprecht J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9558345 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature