Presentation Details
| High-resolution biologging of a predator-prey system: variable responses by sifaka to fossa across scales Tracy Montgomery1, 3, Maevatiana Ratsimbazafindranahaka2, 3, Zea Walton3, Meredith Lutz4, Dario Walser3, Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin3, Teague O’Mara5, Damien Caillaud4, Rebecca Lewis6, Margaret Crofoot3. 1Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.2Centre for Studies on Risks, Mobility, Land Planning and the Environment, Strasbourg France.3Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz Germany.4University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA.5Bat Conservation International, Austin, TX, USA.6University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA |
Abstract
Predation shapes prey behavior through both direct killing and fear-driven effects, but fine-scale behavioral adjustments to changing risk are rarely tested because predator-prey encounters are hard to observe. We combined high-resolution biologging of predators and prey with long-term monitoring to examine responses across scales. In western Madagascar, we studied interactions between the fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) and Verreaux’s sifaka (Propithecus verreauxi). GPS and accelerometry during confirmed fossa approaches showed context-dependent immediate responses: in daytime, sifaka reduced activity and increased head-up posture when fossa were within 50 m, but effects faded quickly with distance. At night, sifaka increased activity and vigilance, and responses persisted after fossa moved away. However, sifaka showed little evidence of broader day-to-day behavioral shifts in relation to longer-term camera-trap estimates of predation risk. By linking predator movements, prey behavior, and predation risk, our results show that landscape-of-fear effects are shaped by both the nature of antipredator responses and the spatio-temporal scales at which they operate.
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