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

几千年来，人类一直在无意中为动物群落提供食物。吸引熊的垃圾场和农田里未收获或溢出的作物都是常见的现代例子。这个项目的目标是确定这种补充食品的生态后果。这项工作很重要，因为某些种类的野生动物可能从人类提供的食物中受益，而其他种类的野生动物可能受到伤害。这些食物还可能以不同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相互作用。这项研究符合国家利益，因为野生动物资源越来越受到消费和非消费娱乐的重视；野生动物管理是所有50个州的首要任务。为了探测人类提供的食物来源附近的野生动物，该项目将使用由附近动物自动触发的“相机陷阱”。公民科学家将通过帮助安装相机陷阱来参与研究，这将为教育和推广提供额外的机会。该项目将比较捕食者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-食腐者的相互作用。具体目标是：(i)通过分析站点协变量与占用率之间的关系以及占用时间动态来评估不同类型补充资源站点上的物种发生情况；（ii）使用生物多样性和食物网连接指标来比较不同站点类型之间的食物网结构和复杂性；（iii）模拟由捕食点、猎人诱饵点和自然死亡产生的季节性资源脉冲。分析方法将非侵入性调查方法（即相机陷阱）与目标(i)的占用分析以及目标（ii）和（iii）的生态建模技术相结合。首席研究员将与参与公民科学家的区域、国家和全球相机捕捉工作合作；其中包括Snapshot Michigan， eMammal和Smithsonian WILD。

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.