Fardell Loren L, Pavey Chris R, Dickman Christopher R
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Land and Water, CSIRO, Winnellie, NT, Australia.
PeerJ. 2020 Apr 30;8:e9104. doi: 10.7717/peerj.9104. eCollection 2020.
Predators induce stress in prey and can have beneficial effects in ecosystems, but can also have negative effects on biodiversity if they are overabundant or have been introduced. The growth of human populations is, at the same time, causing degradation of natural habitats and increasing interaction rates of humans with wildlife, such that conservation management routinely considers the effects of human disturbance as tantamount to or surpassing those of predators. The need to simultaneously manage both of these threats is particularly acute in urban areas that are, increasingly, being recognized as global hotspots of wildlife activity. Pressures from altered predator-prey interactions and human activity may each initiate fear responses in prey species above those that are triggered by natural stressors in ecosystems. If fear responses are experienced by prey at elevated levels, on top of responses to multiple environmental stressors, chronic stress impacts may occur. Despite common knowledge of the negative effects of stress, however, it is rare that stress management is considered in conservation, except in intensive ex situ situations such as in captive breeding facilities or zoos. We propose that mitigation of stress impacts on wildlife is crucial for preserving biodiversity, especially as the value of habitats within urban areas increases. As such, we highlight the need for future studies to consider fear and stress in predator-prey ecology to preserve both biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, especially in areas where human disturbance occurs. We suggest, in particular, that non-invasive in situ investigations of endocrinology and ethology be partnered in conservation planning with surveys of habitat resources to incorporate and reduce the effects of fear and stress on wildlife.
捕食者会给猎物带来压力，在生态系统中可能产生有益影响，但如果数量过多或被引入，也会对生物多样性产生负面影响。与此同时，人口增长导致自然栖息地退化，人类与野生动物的互动率增加，因此保护管理通常认为人类干扰的影响等同于或超过捕食者的影响。在日益被视为野生动物活动全球热点的城市地区，同时应对这两种威胁的需求尤为迫切。捕食者与猎物互动的改变以及人类活动带来的压力，可能会使猎物物种产生比生态系统中自然应激源引发的恐惧反应更强烈的恐惧反应。如果猎物在对多种环境应激源作出反应的基础上，还经历更高水平的恐惧反应，可能会产生慢性应激影响。然而，尽管人们普遍了解压力的负面影响，但在保护工作中，除了在圈养繁殖设施或动物园等密集的迁地保护情况下，很少考虑压力管理。我们认为，减轻压力对野生动物的影响对于保护生物多样性至关重要，特别是随着城市地区栖息地价值的增加。因此，我们强调未来的研究需要在捕食者 - 猎物生态学中考虑恐惧和压力，以保护生物多样性和生态系统功能，特别是在发生人类干扰的地区。我们特别建议，在保护规划中，将内分泌学和行为学的非侵入性实地调查与栖息地资源调查相结合，以纳入并减少恐惧和压力对野生动物的影响。
