Competitive exclusion within the predator community influences the distribution of a threatened prey species.

摘要: While much effort has been made to quantify how landscape composition influences the distribution of species, possibility that geographical differences in species interactions might affect distributions received less attention. Investigating a predator-prey setting boreal forest ecosystem, we empirically show large-scale predator community structure and small-scale competitive exclusion among predators local threatened specialist more than does composition. Consequently, even though parameters affecting Siberian flying squirrel (Pteromys volans) (prey) did not differ between nest sites Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) Ural Owls (Strix uralensis), squirrels were heterospecifically attracted by goshawks region where both present. No such effect was found another absent. These results provide evidence over large spatial scales may be major force influencing abundance patterns species. On basis these findings, suspect subtle central reason why models constructed predict often fail when applied wider scales.