Meso predator

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A Mesoprädator is a predator that hunts other animals, killed and eats, but even also prey to one, usually larger, hunter particular one can be, at the end of the food chain standing Spitzenprädators . Mesoprädatoren take within the in their habitat existing community the ecological function of consumers at least second order (see trophic level ), and are therefore secondary consumers or tertiary consumers. It is therefore always a zoophages animal.

Meso-predators typically include small terrestrial vertebrates , such as shrews or lizards . They eat insects , insect larvae and earthworms and are preyed on by smaller birds of prey , cats and dogs . The red fox is both a food competitor and a potential prey of the wolf in areas where wolves live . Thus it takes on the position of a meso predator in these habitats.

Interspecific competition between top and meso predators (generic term: intra-guild competition ), as a result of which the population of meso predators is decimated by that of top predators ( asymmetrical interference competition ), can generate trophic cascade effects that affect the populations of the respective the prey animals preferred by the mesopedators. In this regard, the interrelationships between wolf, coyote and red fox in North America are being intensively researched : Since coyotes are more likely to be attacked and killed by wolves than foxes, the numerical ratio between coyotes and foxes is particularly small in areas where there are wolves, whereas there are sometimes is significantly larger in areas where there are no wolves. Exceptions are the marginal zones of the wolf's range, as coyotes are more present there than in the core zones of the wolf's range due to their proximity to the adjacent wolf-free areas. With regard to prey populations, a study in the forests of Wisconsin and Michigan found that in areas with high wolf traffic, the population of snowshoe hares , the preferred prey of coyotes, was statistically significantly larger than in low-wolf areas, whereas in low-wolf areas Wolves frequented areas the populations of deer mice , the preferred prey of the red fox, were mostly statistically significantly larger than in areas heavily frequented by wolves.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Neil A. Campbell, Jane B. Reece: Biology. Spektrum-Verlag 2003, ISBN 3-8274-1352-4 , pp. 1411, 1432, 1440.
  2. ↑ DPJ Kuijper, E. Sahlén, B. Elmhagen, S. Chamaillé-Jammes, H. Sand, K. Lone, JPGM Cromsigt: Paws without claws? Ecological effects of large carnivores in anthropogenic landscapes. In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Vol. 283, No. 26, 2016, Item No. 20161625, doi: 10.1098 / rspb.2016.1625 .
  3. ↑ Thomas M. Newsome, William J. Ripple: A continental scale trophic cascade from wolves through coyotes to foxes. In: Journal of Animal Ecology. Vol. 84, No. 1, 2015, pp. 49-59, doi: 10.1111 / 1365-2656.12258
  4. ↑ David G. Flagel, Gary E. Belovsky, Michael J. Cramer, Dean E. Beyer Jr., Katie E. Robertson: Fear and loathing in a Great Lakes forest: cascading effects of competition between wolves and coyotes. In: Journal of Mammalogy. Vol. 98, No. 1, 2017, pp. 77-84 doi: 10.1093 / jmammal / gyw162 .