Predator interactions, mesopredator release and biodiversity conservation.

By Euan G. Ritchie, Christopher N. Johnson. Ecology Letters, 2009

1,260 citations recorded by the source corpus.

There is growing recognition of the important roles played by predators in regulating ecosystems and sustaining biodiversity. Much attention has focused on the consequences of predator-regulation of herbivore populations, and associated trophic cascades. However apex predators may also control smaller 'mesopredators' through intraguild interactions. Removal of apex predators can result in changes to intraguild interactions and outbreaks of mesopredators ('mesopredator release'), leading in turn to increased predation on smaller prey. Here we provide a review and synthesis of studies of predator interactions, mesopredator release and their impacts on biodiversity. Mesopredator suppression by apex predators is widespread geographically and taxonomically. Apex predators suppress mesopredators both by killing them, or instilling fear, which motivates changes in behaviour and habitat use that limit mesopredator distribution and abundance. Changes in the abundance of apex predators may have disproportionate (up to fourfold) effects on mesopredator abundance. Outcomes of interactions between predators may however vary with resource availability, habitat complexity and the complexity of predator communities. There is potential for the restoration of apex predators to have benefits for biodiversity conservation through moderation of the impacts of mesopredators on their prey, but this requires a whole-ecosystem view to avoid unforeseen negative effects. 'Nothing has changed since I began. My eye has permitted no change. I am going to keep things like this.' From 'Hawk Roosting', by Ted Hughes.

Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/77c158ac921d9ec20fc67d5e9d509d733fc289ca

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Citations in the corpus

Ecological importance of sharks and rays in a structural foodweb analysis in southern Brazil (2014, background): “The “mesopredator release” hypothesis for elasmobranchs (see Myers et al., 2007; Ritchie and Johnson, 2009) may be applicable in a structural context off the coast of Brazil, in contrast with the tropical system along the Pacific coast (Navia et al.”
Interactions between a Top Order Predator and Exotic Mesopredators in the Australian Rangelands (2012, background): “Interspecific killing between carnivores is common [22], and recent studies have highlighted the possible role of toporder predators in controlling second-tier carnivores (mesopredators) [23–25].”
Golden jackal expansion in Europe: a case of mesopredator release triggered by continent-wide wolf persecution? (2017, positive): “On the other hand, apex predators generally appear to be effective in reducing mesopredator abundance (Ritchie and Johnson, 2009).”
Predators drive community structure in coral reef fish assemblages (2015, background): “Fear mediated responses might also occur, as meso-predators alter their behavior in the presence of apex predators (Ritchie and Johnson 2009).”
Sizing up the ecological role of sharks as predators (2014, background): “…the top trophic position in a community and are noted to: (1) often have strong effects on trophic dynamics and diversity of systems, (2) affect mesopredators via lethal encounters or influencing behaviour, and (3) kill smaller predators for food and to avoid competition (Ritchie & Johnson 2009).”
Dietary Niche Overlap in a Nearshore Elasmobranch Mesopredator Community (2011, positive): “These changes are typically mediated by mesopredators, predators of intermediate trophic levels, which provide a crucial link between upper and lower trophic levels (Ritchie & Johnson 2009).”
Predation in bird populations (2011, background): “…on the prey population would be misleading evidence to support the noneffect of the predator on its prey populations unless the complete predator suite had been removed (e.g. Fletcher et al. 2010) or the effects of other potential predator species are considered (Ritchie and Johnson 2009).”
Fear of the human “super predator” far exceeds the fear of large carnivores in a model mesocarnivore (2016, background): “The fear large carnivores inspire in mesocarnivores can have powerful cascading effects affecting ecosystem structure and function (Prugh et al. 2009; Ritchie and Johnson 2009; Ripple et al. 2014), as has recently been experimentally verified (Suraci et al. 2016).”
Being the underdog: an elusive small carnivore uses space with prey and time without enemies (2014, background): “Like their prey, many predators find themselves in a landscape of fear (Laundre, Hernandez & Altendorf, 2001; Ritchie & Johnson, 2009).”
Predation by small mammalian carnivores in rural agro-ecosystems: An undervalued ecosystem service? (2017, background): “In smallholder agro-ecosystems, and many other modified landscapes, the removal of apex carnivore species from most human inhabited areas of Africa may have facilitated increased mesocarnivore abundance (Caro and Stoner, 2003; Prugh et al., 2009; Ritchie and Johnson, 2009).”
REVIEW: Refuges for fauna in fire‐prone landscapes: their ecological function and importance (2013, background): “For example, loss of predators in isolated fragments can lead to cascading effects on ecosystems, with resultant outbreaks of herbivores significantly altering habitat structure (Ritchie & Johnson 2009).”
Mesopredator spatial and temporal responses to large predators and human development in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California (2015, background): “…of apex predators and release of mesopredators has been identified as a possible cause for the decline or extinction of songbirds and small mammals, because they are disproportionately preyed upon by mesopredators (Crooks and Soulé, 1999; Johnson et al., 2007; Ritchie and Johnson, 2009).”
Large carnivore impacts are context-dependent (2017, background): “Risk-induced interactions between predators and other organisms can have cascading effects (Miller et al. 2012; Ripple et al. 2014; Ritchie and Johnson 2009).”
Stop Jumping the Gun: A Call for Evidence‐Based Invasive Predator Management (2017, background): “Top-predators are keystone species that regulate the distribution, abundance, and behavior of their prey species and often intraguild competitors as well (Ritchie & Johnson 2009).”