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Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares

1. We assessed the hypothesized negative correlation between the influence of multiple predators and body condition and fecundity of the European hare, from 13 areas in the Netherlands. 2. Year‐round abundance of predators was estimated by hunters. We quantified predator influence as the sum of thei...

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Autores principales: Weterings, Martijn J. A., Losekoot, Sanne, Kuipers, Henry J., Prins, Herbert H. T., van Langevelde, Frank, van Wieren, Sipke E.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8809432/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35136544
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8442
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author Weterings, Martijn J. A.
Losekoot, Sanne
Kuipers, Henry J.
Prins, Herbert H. T.
van Langevelde, Frank
van Wieren, Sipke E.
author_facet Weterings, Martijn J. A.
Losekoot, Sanne
Kuipers, Henry J.
Prins, Herbert H. T.
van Langevelde, Frank
van Wieren, Sipke E.
author_sort Weterings, Martijn J. A.
collection PubMed
description 1. We assessed the hypothesized negative correlation between the influence of multiple predators and body condition and fecundity of the European hare, from 13 areas in the Netherlands. 2. Year‐round abundance of predators was estimated by hunters. We quantified predator influence as the sum of their field metabolic rates, as this sum reflects the daily food requirements of multiple individuals. We determined the ratio between body mass and hindfoot length of hares as an index of body condition and the weight of their adrenal gland as a measure of chronic exposure to stress, and we counted the number of placental scars to estimate fecundity of hares. 3. As hypothesized, we found that the sum of field metabolic rate of predators was negatively correlated with body condition and the number of placental scars, whereas it was positively related to the weight of the adrenal glands. In contrast to the sum of the field metabolic rate, the total number of predators did not or weakly affect the investigated risk responses. 4. The sum of the field metabolic rate can be a useful proxy for the influence of multiple predators and takes into account predator abundance, type, body weight, and food requirements of multiple predators. 5. With our findings, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the risk effects of multiple predators on prey fitness. Additionally, we identify a potential contributor to the decline of European hare populations.
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spelling pubmed-88094322022-02-07 Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares Weterings, Martijn J. A. Losekoot, Sanne Kuipers, Henry J. Prins, Herbert H. T. van Langevelde, Frank van Wieren, Sipke E. Ecol Evol Research Articles 1. We assessed the hypothesized negative correlation between the influence of multiple predators and body condition and fecundity of the European hare, from 13 areas in the Netherlands. 2. Year‐round abundance of predators was estimated by hunters. We quantified predator influence as the sum of their field metabolic rates, as this sum reflects the daily food requirements of multiple individuals. We determined the ratio between body mass and hindfoot length of hares as an index of body condition and the weight of their adrenal gland as a measure of chronic exposure to stress, and we counted the number of placental scars to estimate fecundity of hares. 3. As hypothesized, we found that the sum of field metabolic rate of predators was negatively correlated with body condition and the number of placental scars, whereas it was positively related to the weight of the adrenal glands. In contrast to the sum of the field metabolic rate, the total number of predators did not or weakly affect the investigated risk responses. 4. The sum of the field metabolic rate can be a useful proxy for the influence of multiple predators and takes into account predator abundance, type, body weight, and food requirements of multiple predators. 5. With our findings, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the risk effects of multiple predators on prey fitness. Additionally, we identify a potential contributor to the decline of European hare populations. John Wiley and Sons Inc. 2022-01-11 /pmc/articles/PMC8809432/ /pubmed/35136544 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8442 Text en © 2022 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the terms of the http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research Articles
Weterings, Martijn J. A.
Losekoot, Sanne
Kuipers, Henry J.
Prins, Herbert H. T.
van Langevelde, Frank
van Wieren, Sipke E.
Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
title Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
title_full Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
title_fullStr Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
title_full_unstemmed Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
title_short Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
title_sort influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of european hares
topic Research Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8809432/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35136544
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8442
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