Eriksson, Charlotte E., Kantek, Daniel L. Z., Miyazaki, Selma S., Morato, Ronaldo G., dos Santos-Filho, Manoel, Ruprecht, Joel S., Peres, Carlos A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1588-8765 and Levi, Taal
(2022)
Extensive aquatic subsidies lead to territorial breakdown and high density of an apex predator.
Ecology, 103 (1).
ISSN 0012-9658
Abstract
Energetic subsidies between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems can strongly influence food webs and population dynamics. Our objective was to study how aquatic subsidies affected jaguar (Panthera onca) diet, sociality, and population density in a seasonally flooded protected area in the Brazilian Pantanal. The diet (n = 138 scats) was dominated by fish (46%) and aquatic reptiles (55%), representing the first jaguar population known to feed extensively on fish and to minimally consume mammals (11%). These aquatic subsidies supported the highest jaguar population density estimate to date (12.4 jaguars/100 km²) derived from camera traps (8,065 trap nights) and GPS collars (n = 13). Contrary to their mostly solitary behavior elsewhere, we documented social interactions previously unobserved between same-sex adults including cooperative fishing, co-traveling, and play. Our study demonstrates that aquatic subsidies, frequently described in omnivores, can also transform the ecology and behavior of obligate carnivores.
Item Type: | Article |
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Additional Information: | Funding Information: This study was funded by Helge Ax:son Johnson Foundation and Oregon State University. Acknowledgements: We thank ICMBio and UNEMAT for facilitating this research. We thank Manaav Kamath, Aurea Ignácio, Claumir Muniz, Amabilen Furlan, and Derick Campos for logistical support and field work assistance, as well as Gerlane Costa for help with prey remain identification. |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | allochthonous resources,aquatic subsidy,jaguar,obligate carnivore,panthera onca,social dynamics,ecology, evolution, behavior and systematics,sdg 15 - life on land ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1100/1105 |
Faculty \ School: | University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA |
UEA Research Groups: | Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
Date Deposited: | 26 Jul 2022 13:30 |
Last Modified: | 20 Jul 2024 17:31 |
URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/86869 |
DOI: | 10.1002/ecy.3543 |
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