Dynamic rodent behavioral response to predation risk: implications for disease ecology

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Behavioral Ecology
• Disease Ecology

Background:

• Prey behavior is influenced by predation risk, impacting ecological processes like disease transmission.
• Predation risk is complex, involving direct and indirect risks from multiple predators over various timescales.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for predicting disease spread, particularly tick-borne diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To disentangle sources of predation risk (direct vs. indirect, short-term vs. long-term) and their effects on rodent antipredator behavior.
• To model rodent occurrence and activity in response to risks from red foxes and coyotes, and environmental factors.
• To investigate the role of red foxes in regulating tick-borne disease dynamics through behavioral manipulation of rodent hosts.

Main Methods:

• Field-based experiment to assess rodent responses to predation risk.
• Modeling rodent occurrence and activity based on short- and long-term risk from red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and coyotes (Canis latrans).
• Inclusion of environmental variables (moonlight, temperature, habitat) in the models.

Main Results:

• Long-term red fox activity significantly reduced rodent occurrence.
• Nearby red fox presence decreased rodent activity by over 50%, dynamically adjusting to background risk levels.
• Rodents did not alter behavior in response to environmental variables or long-term coyote activity.

Conclusions:

• Red foxes are significant proximal regulators of rodent activity, impacting tick-borne disease transmission.
• Rodent antipredator responses are dynamic and depend on the landscape's long-term predation risk.
• Ecosystems require consideration of complex, multi-predator, and multi-timescale risk dynamics for accurate ecological modeling.