Coping with change in predation risk across space and time through complementary behavioral responses

Background

Our picture of behavioral management of risk by prey remains fragmentary. This partly stems from a lack of studies jointly analyzing different behavioral responses developed by prey, such as habitat use and fine-scale behavior, although they are expected to complement each other. We took advantage of a simple system on the Kerguelen archipelago, made of a prey species, European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus, a predator, feral cat Felis catus, and a mosaic of closed and open foraging patches, allowing reliable assessment of spatio-temporal change in predation risk. We investigated the way such a change triggered individual prey decisions on where, when and how to perform routine activities.

Results

Rabbit presence and behavior were recorded both day and night in patches with similar foraging characteristics, but contrasted in terms of openness. Cats, individually recognizable, were more active at night and in closed patches, in line with their expected higher hunting success in those conditions. Accordingly, rabbits avoided using closed patches at night and increased their vigilance if they did. Both day and night, rabbits increased their use of closed patches as compared to open patches in windy conditions, thereby probably reducing the thermoregulatory costs expected under such harsh environmental conditions.

Conclusions

Overall, our data map the landscape of fear in this study system and indicate that prey habitat use and vigilance complement each other. Solely focusing on one or the other tactic may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the way predation risk triggers prey decisions. Finally, future studies should investigate inter-individual variability in the relative use of these different types of complementary behavioral responses to perceived risk, along with the determinants and outcomes of such tactics.