EAGER: Vertebrate food web structure and complexity at predator-derived versus human-derived resource hotspots

数千年来，人类一直在无意中为动物社区提供食物。 吸引熊和农田中未收获或溢出的作物的倾倒是常见的现代例子。该项目的目标是确定这种补充食物的生态后果。 这项工作很重要，因为某些类型的野生动物可能会从人类提供的食物中受益，而其他类型的野生动物可能会受到伤害。食物也可能以不寻常的方式将捕食者和食腐动物聚集在一起，推动原本不会发生的互动。这项研究服务于国家利益，因为野生动物资源越来越重视消费和非消费娱乐;野生动物管理是所有50个州的优先事项。为了探测人类食物来源周围的野生动物，该项目将使用由附近动物自动触发的“相机陷阱”。公民科学家将参与研究，帮助安装摄像机陷阱，这将提供更多的教育和宣传机会，该项目将比较食肉动物产生的腐肉地点和猎人产生的人为资源热点（分别为腐肉地点和诱饵站）的食物网结构和复杂性。首要目标是研究补充食物如何影响捕食者-清道夫的相互作用。具体目标是：（i）通过分析地点协变量与占用率之间的关系以及占用率的时间动态，评估不同类型补充资源地点的物种出现情况，（ii）使用生物多样性和食物网连接性的度量，比较不同地点类型之间的食物网结构和复杂性，以及（iii）模拟捕食，猎人诱饵地点，和自然发生的死亡该分析方法结合了非侵入性调查方法（即，摄像机捕获）与目标（i）的占用分析，以及目标（ii）和（iii）的生态建模技术。 首席研究员将与区域，国家和全球的相机捕捉工作，从事公民科学家合作;其中包括密歇根州快照，eMammal和史密森野生动物。

Humans have unintentionally supplied food to animal communities for millennia. Dumps that attract bears and unharvested or spilled crops in agricultural fields are common, modern-day examples. The goal of this project is to determine the ecological consequences of this supplemental food. The work is important because some types of wildlife may benefit from human-provided food and other types may be harmed. The food may also bring together predators and scavengers in unusual ways, driving interactions that would not otherwise happen. This research serves the national interest because wildlife resources are increasingly valued for both consumptive and non-consumptive recreation; wildlife management is a priority across all 50 states. To detect wildlife around human-provided food sources, this project will use "camera traps" that are automatically triggered by nearby animals. Citizen scientists will be engaged in research by helping with the camera traps, which will provide additional opportunities for education and outreach.This project will compare food web structure and complexity at carrion sites produced by predators and at anthropogenic resource hotspots produced by hunters (carrion sites and bait stations, respectively). The overarching goal is to examine how supplemental food affects predator-scavenger interactions. Specific objectives are: (i) assessment of species occurrence at different types of supplemental resource sites through analyses of the relationship between site covariates and occupancy, and of occupancy temporal dynamics, (ii) comparison of food web structure and complexity between site types, using metrics of biodiversity and food web connectance, and (iii) modeling the seasonal resource pulses produced from predation, hunter bait sites, and naturally-occurring die-offs. The analytical approach combines non-invasive survey methods (i.e., camera trapping) with occupancy analysis for objective (i), and ecological modeling techniques for objectives (ii) and (iii). The Principal Investigator will collaborate with regional, national, and global camera trapping efforts that engage citizen scientists; these include including Snapshot Michigan, eMammal, and Smithsonian WILD.