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Hot or hungry? A tipping point in the effect of prey depletion on African wild dogs by Scott Creel; Matthew S. Becker; Johnathan Reyes de Merkle; Ben Goodheart is a Environmental Science article available to read on EtoBox.

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Interspecific competition has strong effects within carnivore guilds, and African wild dogs are strongly limited by intraguild predation by lions and food loss to spotted hyenas. The densities of these dominant competitors correlate tightly with prey density, and prey depletion due to snaring is contributing to declines of apex carnivores across Africa. As a consequence of snaring, subordinate competitors like the African wild dog and cheetah are simultaneously experiencing a costly reduction in prey and a beneficial reduction of competitors. The net effect is difficult to predict. Here, we describe a previously unrecognized tipping point in the effect of prey density on wild dog density. Above this tipping point, wild dog density increases as prey density decreases, because the benefits of competitive release outweigh the costs of prey depletion. Below this tipping point, wild dog density decreases as prey density decreases, because the costs of prey depletion outweigh the benefits of competitive release. Conservation strategies for wild dogs must recognize this tipping point. As prey depletion due to snaring becomes severe, it limits wild dogs (mesocarnivores), just as it does li

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Author

Scott Creel; Matthew S. Becker; Johnathan Reyes de Merkle; Ben Goodheart

Publisher

Elsevier BV

Published

2023

Language

EN

Field

Environmental Science (Physical Sciences)