Do rabbits eat voles? Apparent competition, habitat heterogeneity and large-scale coexistence under mink predation

摘要: Habitat heterogeneity is predicted to profoundly influence the dynamics of indirect interspecific interactions; however, despite potentially significant consequences for multi-species persistence, this remains almost completely unexplored in large-scale natural landscapes. Moreover, how spatial habitat affects persistence interacting invasive and native species also poorly understood. Here we show a prey (water vole, Arvicola terrestris) determined by distribution an (European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus) directly infer defined mobility shared predator (American mink, Neovison vison). This study uniquely demonstrates that variation connectivity landscapes creates asynchrony, enabling coexistence between apparent competitive species. These findings highlight unexpected interactions may be involved declines, such cases should considered wildlife management decisions.