Journal
ECOLOGY
Volume 96, Issue 10, Pages 2622-2631Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1890/14-1706.1
Keywords
antipredator behavior; boreal woodland caribou; Canis lupus; Cote-Nord region; Quebec; Canada; gray wolf; movement; predation risk; predator-prey relationships; prey cognition; Rangifer tarandus; risk effects; step selection functions
Categories
Funding
- Fonds quebeois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies (FQRNT)
- NSERC-University Laval Industrial Research Chair in Sylviculture and Wildlife
- Ministere du Developpement durable, de l'Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs
- Abitibi-Bowater
- Arbec
- Canada Economic Development
- Canadian Foundation for Innovation
- Cegep de Baie-Comeau
- Centre d'Etude de la Foret
- Fondation de la faune du Quebec
- FPInnovations
- Kruger
- Natural Resources Canada
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Ecological theory predicts that the intensity of antipredator responses is dependent upon the spatiotemporal context of predation risk (the risk allocation hypothesis). However, most studies to date have been conducted over small spatial extents, and did not fully take into account gradual responses to predator proximity. We simultaneously collected spatially explicit data on predator and prey to investigate acute responses of a threatened forest ungulate, the boreal caribou (Rangifer tarandus), to the spatiotemporal dynamics of wolf (Canis lupus) distribution during spring. Movement analysis of GPS-collared individuals from both species revealed high plasticity in habitat-selection decisions of caribou. Female caribou avoided open areas and deciduous forests and moved relatively fast and toward foraging areas when wolves were closer than 2.5 km. Caribou also avoided food-rich areas only when wolves were within 1 km. Our results bridge the gap between long-term perceived risk and immediate flight responses by revealing dynamic antipredator tactics in response to predator proximity.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available