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Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve

Leroy Soria-Díaz, Mike Fowler Orcid Logo, Octavio Monroy-Vilchis

European Journal of Wildlife Research, Volume: 63, Issue: 5, Start page: 73

Swansea University Author: Mike Fowler Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1007/s10344-017-1129-y

Abstract

Top-down and bottom-up controls are hypothesized to regulate population structures in many ecosystems. However, few studies have had the opportunity to analyze both processes in the natural environment, especially on large carnivores like the cougar (Puma concolor). Previously, studies show that cou...

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Published in: European Journal of Wildlife Research
ISSN: 1612-4642 1439-0574
Published: 2017
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa34940
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first_indexed 2017-08-20T18:49:15Z
last_indexed 2018-07-10T13:19:37Z
id cronfa34940
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spelling 2018-07-10T10:04:57.4886045 v2 34940 2017-08-20 Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve a3a29027498d4b43a3f082a0a5ba16b4 0000-0003-1544-0407 Mike Fowler Mike Fowler true false 2017-08-20 SBI Top-down and bottom-up controls are hypothesized to regulate population structures in many ecosystems. However, few studies have had the opportunity to analyze both processes in the natural environment, especially on large carnivores like the cougar (Puma concolor). Previously, studies show that cougar diet in the Sierra Nanchititla Natural Reserve (SNNR), central Mexico, is mainly armadillo, coati, and white-tailed deer. We assess whether top-down and/or bottom-up control regulate this endangered food web: (a) we predicted that seasonal per capita changes in abundance (pca) of cougar will be positively affected by the abundance of their main prey; (b) primary productivity in SNNR will affect the pca of prey species, driving bottom-up control; and (c) armadillo, coati, and white-tailed deer pca will be affected by the abundance of cougar, generating top-down control. Using 15 camera traps for 6 years in the SNNR, we calculated a relative abundance index (RAI) and pca for cougar and each of the focal prey, and we used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a proxy of primary productivity. We constructed multiple regression models and selected the best linear models based on ranking the AICc values. Our analysis suggests that P. concolor pca is best explained by bottom-up control and intraspecific feedback. White-tailed deer and armadillo pca were both significantly affected by cougar abundance, indicating top-down control for these prey species, but NDVI was not retained in any of the models selected for prey pca. Our results indicate that both bottom-up and top-down control are involved in regulating this endangered food web in the SNNR, Mexico. Journal Article European Journal of Wildlife Research 63 5 73 1612-4642 1439-0574 competition, food web, Mexico, NDVI, predator-prey, species interactions 1 10 2017 2017-10-01 10.1007/s10344-017-1129-y COLLEGE NANME Biosciences COLLEGE CODE SBI Swansea University 2018-07-10T10:04:57.4886045 2017-08-20T14:35:20.9625285 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences Leroy Soria-Díaz 1 Mike Fowler 0000-0003-1544-0407 2 Octavio Monroy-Vilchis 3
title Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
spellingShingle Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
Mike Fowler
title_short Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
title_full Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
title_fullStr Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
title_full_unstemmed Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
title_sort Top-down and bottom-up control on cougar and its prey in a central Mexican natural reserve
author_id_str_mv a3a29027498d4b43a3f082a0a5ba16b4
author_id_fullname_str_mv a3a29027498d4b43a3f082a0a5ba16b4_***_Mike Fowler
author Mike Fowler
author2 Leroy Soria-Díaz
Mike Fowler
Octavio Monroy-Vilchis
format Journal article
container_title European Journal of Wildlife Research
container_volume 63
container_issue 5
container_start_page 73
publishDate 2017
institution Swansea University
issn 1612-4642
1439-0574
doi_str_mv 10.1007/s10344-017-1129-y
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Biosciences
document_store_str 0
active_str 0
description Top-down and bottom-up controls are hypothesized to regulate population structures in many ecosystems. However, few studies have had the opportunity to analyze both processes in the natural environment, especially on large carnivores like the cougar (Puma concolor). Previously, studies show that cougar diet in the Sierra Nanchititla Natural Reserve (SNNR), central Mexico, is mainly armadillo, coati, and white-tailed deer. We assess whether top-down and/or bottom-up control regulate this endangered food web: (a) we predicted that seasonal per capita changes in abundance (pca) of cougar will be positively affected by the abundance of their main prey; (b) primary productivity in SNNR will affect the pca of prey species, driving bottom-up control; and (c) armadillo, coati, and white-tailed deer pca will be affected by the abundance of cougar, generating top-down control. Using 15 camera traps for 6 years in the SNNR, we calculated a relative abundance index (RAI) and pca for cougar and each of the focal prey, and we used the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) as a proxy of primary productivity. We constructed multiple regression models and selected the best linear models based on ranking the AICc values. Our analysis suggests that P. concolor pca is best explained by bottom-up control and intraspecific feedback. White-tailed deer and armadillo pca were both significantly affected by cougar abundance, indicating top-down control for these prey species, but NDVI was not retained in any of the models selected for prey pca. Our results indicate that both bottom-up and top-down control are involved in regulating this endangered food web in the SNNR, Mexico.
published_date 2017-10-01T03:43:22Z
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score 11.013731

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