捕食通过死亡率对猎物种群动态有直接影响,它可以通过恐惧引起间接影响。捕食的间接影响已被实验证明,但是很少有研究在本质上量化它们,因此它们在猎物种群动态中的作用仍然存在争议。鉴于许多地区大型捕食者的种群不断扩大或重新引入,捕食的间接影响的量化至关重要。我们试图使用Ram山上标记的大角羊(Oviscanadensis)的48年数据来评估强烈的美洲狮(Pumaconcolor)捕食的直接和间接适应性影响,艾伯塔省,加拿大。我们将多年的强烈美洲狮捕食与没有或偶尔的美洲狮捕食进行了比较。我们首先量化了捕食对新生儿的影响,断奶,和过冬羔羊的生存,三个可能受直接和间接影响的指标。然后,我们研究了强烈的美洲狮捕食对羔羊生产的可能间接影响,女性夏季体重增长,断奶时羔羊团。我们发现美洲狮捕食对羔羊存活有很强的影响,羊肉生产,羔羊和成年雌性的季节性质量增长。在捕食率很高的年份,新生儿,断奶,越冬羔羊的存活率下降了18.4%,19.7%和20.8%,分别。间接影响包括羔羊产量下降14.2%。在强烈的美洲狮捕食期间,女性夏季的体重增长减少了15.6%,断奶时的羔羊体重下降了8.0%。我们的发现通过报告对招募的中等到大的影响,为捕食对猎物适应性的影响带来了关键见解,并说明了捕食对种群动态的间接影响的重要性。
Predation has direct effects on prey population dynamics through mortality, and it can induce indirect effects through fear. The indirect effects of predation have been documented experimentally, but few studies have quantified them in nature so that their role in prey population dynamics remains controversial. Given the expanding or reintroduced populations of large predators in many areas, the quantification of indirect effects of predation is crucial. We sought to evaluate the direct and indirect fitness effects of intense cougar (Puma concolor) predation using 48 years of data on marked bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis) on Ram Mountain, Alberta, Canada. We compared years of intense cougar predation with years with no or occasional cougar predation. We first quantified the effects of predation on neonatal, weaning, and overwinter lamb survival, three metrics potentially affected by direct and indirect effects. We then investigated the possible indirect effects of intense cougar predation on lamb production, female summer mass gain, and lamb mass at weaning. We found strong effects of cougar predation on lamb survival, lamb production, and seasonal mass gain of lambs and adult females. In years with high predation, neonatal, weaning, and overwinter lamb survival declined by 18.4%, 19.7% and 20.8%, respectively. Indirect effects included a 14.2% decline in lamb production. Female summer mass gain decreased by 15.6% and lamb mass at weaning declined by 8.0% in years of intense cougar predation. Our findings bring key insights on the impacts of predation on prey fitness by reporting moderate to large effects on recruitment and illustrate the importance of indirect effects of predation on population dynamics.