The many faces of fear : a synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risk

dc.contributor.authorMoll, Remington J.
dc.contributor.authorRedilla, Kyle M.
dc.contributor.authorMudumba, Tutilo
dc.contributor.authorMuneza, Arthur B.
dc.contributor.authorGray, Steven M.
dc.contributor.authorAbade, Leandro
dc.contributor.authorHayward, Matt W.
dc.contributor.authorMillspaugh, Joshua J.
dc.contributor.authorMontgomery, Robert A.
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-28T05:12:36Z
dc.date.issued2017-07
dc.description.abstractPredators affect prey by killing them directly (lethal effects) and by inducing costly antipredator behaviours in living prey (risk effects). Risk effects can strongly influence prey populations and cascade through trophic systems. A prerequisite for assessing risk effects is characterizing the spatiotemporal variation in predation risk. Risk effects research has experienced rapid growth in the last several decades. However, preliminary assessments of the resultant literature suggest that researchers characterize predation risk using a variety of techniques. The implications of this methodological variation for inference and comparability among studies have not been well recognized or formally synthesized. We couple a literature survey with a hierarchical framework, developed from established theory, to quantify the methodological variation in characterizing risk using carnivore-ungulate systems as a case study. Via this process, we documented 244 metrics of risk from 141 studies falling into at least 13 distinct subcategories within three broader categories. Both empirical and theoretical work suggest risk and its effects on prey constitute a complex, multi-dimensional process with expressions varying by spatiotemporal scale. Our survey suggests this multi-scale complexity is reflected in the literature as a whole but often underappreciated in any given study, which complicates comparability among studies and leads to an overemphasis on documenting the presence of risk effects rather than their mechanisms or scale of influence. We suggest risk metrics be placed in a more concrete conceptual framework to clarify inference surrounding risk effects and their cascading effects throughout ecosystems. We recommend studies (i) take a multi-scale approach to characterizing risk; (ii) explicitly consider 'true' predation risk (probability of predation per unit time); and (iii) use risk metrics that facilitate comparison among studies and the evaluation of multiple competing hypotheses. Addressing the pressing questions in risk effects research, including how, to what extent and on what scale they occur, requires leveraging the advantages of the many methods available to characterize risk while minimizing the confusion caused by variability in their application.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentCentre for Wildlife Managementen_ZA
dc.description.embargo2018-07-30
dc.description.librariancs2017en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorshipThe NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (RJM), the Michigan State University MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program (ABM), CNPq-Brasil (LA), and the University of Montana Boone and Crockett Program (JJM).en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2656en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMoll, R.J., Redilla, K.M., Mudumba, T., Muneza, A.B., Gray, S.M., Abade, L., Hayward, M.W., Millspaugh, J.J. & Montgomery, R.A. 2017, 'The many faces of fear : a synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risk', Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 86, no. 4, pp. 749-765.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1365-2656 (online)
dc.identifier.issn0021-8790 (print)
dc.identifier.other10.1111/1365-2656.12680
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/61133
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherWileyen_ZA
dc.rights© 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article : 'The many faces of fear : a synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risk', Journal of Animal Ecology, vol. 86, no. 4, pp. 749-765, 2017, doi : 10.1111/1365-2656.12680. The definite version is available at : http://onlinelibrary.wiley.comjournal/10.1111/(ISSN)1365-2656.en_ZA
dc.subjectAntipredator behaviouren_ZA
dc.subjectCarnivoreen_ZA
dc.subjectLandscape of fearen_ZA
dc.subjectNon-consumptive effectsen_ZA
dc.subjectNon-lethal effectsen_ZA
dc.subjectPredation risken_ZA
dc.subjectPredator-prey interactionen_ZA
dc.subjectRisk allocationen_ZA
dc.subjectRisk effectsen_ZA
dc.subjectUngulateen_ZA
dc.titleThe many faces of fear : a synthesis of the methodological variation in characterizing predation risken_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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