Energy News  
FARM NEWS
Humans Give Prey The Edge In Food Web

U of C research shows that human activity displaces predators more than prey.
by Staff Writers
Calgary, Canada (SPX) Mar 08, 2011
A new paper by University of Calgary researchers, published in PLoS ONE, demonstrates the edge given to prey in the "space race" by human activity.

The research was conducted by two University of Calgary students, a University of Calgary Post-Doctoral Fellow and two University of Calgary professors from the Faculty of Environmental Design, Department of Geomatics in the Schulich School of Engineering and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The research looked at how predator-prey interactions and use of space were influenced by human activity.

The team deployed 43 digital camera traps at randomly selected locations along roads and trails within a research area on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in southwest Alberta from April to November of 2008.

Large predator animals in the study area consisted of wolves, black bears, grizzly bears and cougars. While the large herbivore species monitored were moose, elk, white-tailed deer, mule deer and cattle.

They found that humans and prey species co-occurred together more often than humans and predators at camera sites, and that predators and prey were less likely to be in the same area if there was heavy human traffic.

Their results showed that prey were three times more abundant on roads and trails used by more than 32 humans a day, but predators were less abundant on roads and trails used by more than 18 humans a day.

"The research shows that humans might displace large mammalian predators," says Tyler Muhly, corresponding author of the paper and a PhD graduate from the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary (currently with Alberta Innovates Technology Futures). "This provides a positive indirect effect on large mammalian prey species that are less sensitive to humans."

The research suggests that limiting human use of roads and trails in wildlife areas to less than 18 people a day might reduce the effects on the large mammalian food web, but a growing human population means that the effects on wildlife food webs will likely increase.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
University of Calgary
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


FARM NEWS
Asia rice output threatened by pesticide overuse
Singapore (AFP) March 6, 2011
The unbridled manufacture and use of pesticides in Asia is raising the spectre of "pest storms" devastating the region's rice farms and threatening food security, scientists have warned. Increased production of cheap pesticides in China and India, lax regulation and inadequate farmer education are destroying ecosystems around paddies, allowing pests to thrive and multiply, they said. The ... read more







FARM NEWS
GOCE Delivers On Its Promise

NASA reels from climate science setbacks

NASA's Bolden defends Earth science

New Day Dawns For Satellite To Study Earth's Ozone Layer

FARM NEWS
Improved Method Developed To Locate Ships In Storms

Shark Tracking Reveals Impressive Feats Of Navigation

China To Establish Global Satellite Navigation System By 2020

EGNOS Navigation System Begins Serving Europe's Aircraft

FARM NEWS
Trading places: Kenyans swap carbon roles to save forest

Scientists Study Control Of Invasive Tree In Western US

Four New Species Of Zombie Ant Fungi Discovered

Climate Change Causing Demise Of Lodgepole Pine In Western North America

FARM NEWS
Malaysia says palm oil exports to EU down

Giant renewable diesel plant opens in Singapore

BESC Scores A First With Isobutanol Directly From Cellulose

Using Proteins As Raw Material For Biofuels And Biorefining

FARM NEWS
Intersolar Europe 2011 On Course For Continued Success

BlueChip Energy Signs Agreement To Acquire Land For 40MW Solar Farm

JA Solar And MEMC Announce Solar Cell Production Joint Venture

PSE and G's Central Headquarters Solar System Complete

FARM NEWS
GL Garrad Hassan Delivers Wind Map Of Lebanon

Eon to build fifth U.K. offshore wind farm

GL Garrad Hassan Launches Onshore Wind Resource Mapping For UK

Construction Begins On Dempsey Ridge Wind Project

FARM NEWS
China says over 2,400 dead in coal mines in 2010

FARM NEWS
Tibet won't crumble when Dalai Lama dies: China

SW China mega-city building huge security system

China FM says no tension despite protest campaign

Chinese police beef up street patrols


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement