She Wen, Holyoak Marcel, Gu Jiayin, Qi Jinzhe, Liu Shuyan, Jiang Guangshun
Feline Research Center of National Forestry and Grassland Administration, College of Wildlife and Protected Area, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
Northeast Asia Biodiversity Research Center, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
J Anim Ecol. 2025 Apr;94(4):745-759. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.70011. Epub 2025 Feb 21.
Species interactions remain a cornerstone in shaping community dynamics and structure, alongside other factors, such as climate conditions and human activities. Although network structure is known to influence community stability and ecosystem functioning, the roles of top predators in shaping interaction network structure remain obscure. We examined a 5-7-year time series of species detections for mammal communities in multiple protected areas to investigate the association between top predators and interaction network structure. Our findings suggest that abundant species, day-active species and species with wide habitat breadth interact with more species, as did species that were more affected by vehicle disturbance. With increased densities of top predators, interaction networks exhibited greater complexity, with increased connectance, nestedness and average degree. An increased density of mesopredators, such as yellow-throated martens and badgers, was associated with sparser, less nested, but more centralized interaction networks. Top predators reduced the degree of highly interactive species, making them more specialized, and increased the degree of less abundant species, making them more general. In particular, this redistribution of interactions was not driven by direct changes in species density of top predators but seemingly by non-consumptive or indirect effects. Our findings emphasize the pivotal role of the main predators in structuring interactions within northeastern China's mammal communities, with large implications for conservation and management.
物种间的相互作用仍是塑造群落动态和结构的基石，与气候条件和人类活动等其他因素共同作用。尽管已知网络结构会影响群落稳定性和生态系统功能，但顶级捕食者在塑造相互作用网络结构中的作用仍不明确。我们研究了多个保护区哺乳动物群落5至7年的物种监测时间序列，以探究顶级捕食者与相互作用网络结构之间的关联。我们的研究结果表明，丰富度高的物种、日间活动的物种以及栖息地范围广的物种与更多物种相互作用，受车辆干扰影响更大的物种也是如此。随着顶级捕食者密度的增加，相互作用网络表现出更高的复杂性，连接度、嵌套度和平均度均有所增加。诸如黄喉貂和獾等中级捕食者密度的增加，与更稀疏、嵌套度更低但更集中的相互作用网络相关。顶级捕食者降低了高互动性物种的连接度，使其更加特化，并增加了稀有物种的连接度，使其更加泛化。特别是，这种相互作用的重新分配并非由顶级捕食者物种密度的直接变化驱动，而是似乎由非消费性或间接影响所致。我们的研究结果强调了主要捕食者在中国东北哺乳动物群落构建相互作用中的关键作用，对保护和管理具有重大意义。
