The possible role of predator–prey dynamics as an influence on early hominin use of burned landscapes

Abstract

Foraging in burned areas has been suggested to represent the earliest stage in the use and control of fire by early hominins. Recently burned areas offer immediate foraging benefits including increased search efficiency for high‐ranked food items and decreased hunting opportunities for ambush predators. As such, they provide a triple‐bonus (reduced risk from ambush, ease of terrestrial travel and higher foraging returns) for some primates. However, previous studies have not yet accounted for other types of predators e.g., coursing (endurance predators that can pursue prey over long distances) which were sympatric with hominins and may also have exploited these environments. Behavioral ecology studies on the use of burned landscapes by extant carnivores demonstrate that while some ambush predators avoid recently burned areas, coursing predators do take advantage of their immediate hunting opportunities. Research examining habitat selection by animals under the simultaneous threat of multiple predator species with different modes of hunting, and the diversity of Plio‐Pleistocene carnivore guild is suggestive of two possible evolutionary scenarios in which hominins could either have selected or avoided burned areas (3–2 mya), based on whether ambush or coursing predators were perceived as presenting the greatest risk.

Understanding Late Pleistocene human land preference using ecological niche models in an Australasian test case

“…7), despite high competition estimates (Tables 6 and 7). While we expected that competition, if high, would reduce favorability (Hoare, 2019), (e.g., humans would move away from these spaces or seek resources elsewhere) this was not supported in the ENM. Despite high competition estimates both across the region and site-specifically (Table 7, Fig.…”

Fire as a driver and mediator of predator–prey interactions

“…Although fire has affected predator–prey interactions for millennia (Hoare, 2019), human modification of Earth's ecosystems now means that the intersection of fire with predator–prey dynamics can have unexpected and undesirable outcomes. Fire regimes globally have shifted from historical baselines due to the displacement of Indigenous Peoples (Bird et al ., 2020; Mariani et al ., 2022), climate change (Halofsky, Peterson & Harvey, 2020), increased rates of prescribed burning (Fernandes, 2018; Cirulis et al ., 2020) or fire suppression (Schmidt & Eloy, 2020), land‐use change (Chergui et al ., 2018), and habitat change such as the introduction of invasive grasses that initiate a grass‐fire cycle (D'Antonio & Vitousek, 1992; Setterfield et al ., 2010).…”

Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in savanna landscapes

“…Natural or anthropogenic bush fires, or both, maintain many mixed tree‐grass systems, including those important to savanna chimpanzees, 22,31 and presumably to early hominins 32 . These fires produce variable burn footprints and intensities, and occur at regular intervals of ~1–7 years 20,33–35 .…”

“…These fires produce variable burn footprints and intensities, and occur at regular intervals of ~1–7 years 20,33–35 . Burning processes sometimes reduce tree cover (e.g., through sapling die‐off) and affect the functional traits of plants (e.g., corky bark, apical bud sheaths, post‐fire re‐sprouting, and seed germination) 18,32,34,36 …”