Group-size-dependent association between food profitability, predation risk and distribution of free-ranging bison

Fortin, Daniel; Fortin, Marie-Eve

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.06.026

Cited by 68 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Once in a meadow, however, bison foraged over smaller areas if SWE was relatively high, and consumed less vegetation in craters where SWE was relatively high, a result consistent with previous reports [13], [49], [63]. A high SWE imposes a high energy cost [12], [64], [65], and large herbivores tend to adjust foraging efforts to spatial patterns in snow conditions [13], [15], [17].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Spatial Heterogeneity in the Strength of Plant-Herbivore Interactions under Predation Risk: The Tale of Bison Foraging in Wolf Country

Harvey

Fortin

2013

PLoS ONE

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Spatial heterogeneity in the strength of trophic interactions is a fundamental property of food web spatial dynamics. The feeding effort of herbivores should reflect adaptive decisions that only become rewarding when foraging gains exceed 1) the metabolic costs, 2) the missed opportunity costs of not foraging elsewhere, and 3) the foraging costs of anti-predator behaviour. Two aspects of these costs remain largely unexplored: the link between the strength of plant-herbivore interactions and the spatial scale of food-quality assessment, and the predator-prey spatial game. We modeled the foraging effort of free-ranging plains bison (Bison bison bison) in winter, within a mosaic of discrete meadows. Spatial patterns of bison herbivory were largely driven by a search for high net energy gains and, to a lesser degree, by the spatial game with grey wolves (Canis lupus). Bison decreased local feeding effort with increasing metabolic and missed opportunity costs. Bison herbivory was most consistent with a broad-scale assessment of food patch quality, i.e., bison grazed more intensively in patches with a low missed opportunity cost relative to other patches available in the landscape. Bison and wolves had a higher probability of using the same meadows than expected randomly. This co-occurrence indicates wolves are ahead in the spatial game they play with bison. Wolves influenced bison foraging at fine scale, as bison tended to consume less biomass at each feeding station when in meadows where the risk of a wolf's arrival was relatively high. Also, bison left more high-quality vegetation in large than small meadows. This behavior does not maximize their energy intake rate, but is consistent with bison playing a shell game with wolves. Our assessment of bison foraging in a natural setting clarifies the complex nature of plant-herbivore interactions under predation risk, and reveals how spatial patterns in herbivory emerge from multi-scale landscape heterogeneity.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Spatial Heterogeneity in the Strength of Plant-Herbivore Interactions under Predation Risk: The Tale of Bison Foraging in Wolf Country

Harvey

Fortin

2013

PLoS ONE

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“…The lack of significant differences in diet selection among treatment herds (Table 3) was somewhat unexpected because increased herd size should lead to reduced selectivity (Fortin and Fortin (2009). However, the large but statistically nonsignificant differences (30-58%) in relative frequency of bites on Pennisetum stamineum or Cynodon dactylon between NDG or SDG steers and LDG or MDG steers (Table 3) are worth noting.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Herd Size-Dependent Effects of Restricted Foraging Time Allowance on Cattle Behavior, Nutrition, and Performance

Odadi

Rubenstein

2015

Rangeland Ecology & Management

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“…Notably, patch use can illustrate the contribution of energy, nutrients and predation risk to a species' fitness (Kotler et al 1994;Hochman and Kotler 2006). Where the risk of predation is high, foragers extract more nutrients from safe patches than they do from risky patches (Brown 1988(Brown , 1992Kotler et al 1994;Fortin and Fortin 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk perception by endangered European bison Bison bonasus is context (condition) dependent

2015

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Context Patch use can illustrate the contributions that forage quality and foraging risk make in shaping foraging decisions made under the risk of being killed. Objectives We aimed to determine whether forage selection by European bison Bison bonasus was state-dependent in being shaped by risk (wolf predation or human poaching/culling avoidance) or nutrient quality at two time periods-early winter (when resources are abundant) and at the end of winter (when resources are scarce)-in Białowie_ za Primeval Forest (Poland). Methods We used a giving-up density framework using the proportional consumption of hay provided by humans to measure the perceptions of risk in European bison. Results European bison resource selection was primarily driven by minimising the distance they travel over open ground in early winter (i.e. avoiding humans), however by the end of winter, when resources are scarce, bison selected haystacks for their nutrient quality (low fibre, high Mg and energy). Conclusions This study illustrates how resource selection varies according to the condition of animals (i.e. state-dependency affects the marginal value theorem). It also indicates conservation managers using hay quality may actively manage human-bison conflicts in trouble spots and that bison are currently free from top-down limitation in Białowie _ za as they do not perceive wolves as threatening enough to alter their foraging behaviour.

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Group-size-dependent association between food profitability, predation risk and distribution of free-ranging bison

Cited by 68 publications

References 46 publications

Spatial Heterogeneity in the Strength of Plant-Herbivore Interactions under Predation Risk: The Tale of Bison Foraging in Wolf Country

Spatial Heterogeneity in the Strength of Plant-Herbivore Interactions under Predation Risk: The Tale of Bison Foraging in Wolf Country

Herd Size-Dependent Effects of Restricted Foraging Time Allowance on Cattle Behavior, Nutrition, and Performance

Risk perception by endangered European bison Bison bonasus is context (condition) dependent

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