The effect of changing soundscapes on trophic interactions

捕食者与猎物之间的相互作用是生态系统功能的重要组成部分，食肉动物可以通过影响营养水平较低的物种来构建生态系统（Suraci et al. 2016）。除了直接杀死猎物之外，捕食者的存在本身就会造成一种“恐惧景观”，影响到多个低营养水平的物种。捕食者的存在对其他动物造成的感知捕食风险是一项重要的生态系统服务，对保护生物多样性和生态系统功能至关重要（Smith et al. 2017）。然而，在许多生态系统中，大型食肉动物经常被“超级食肉动物”（即人类）所取代，这为食肉动物创造了一个“恐惧的环境”。人类经常通过向生态系统的声景发出人为噪音的活动引起这种恐惧。因此，人为的噪音可以为捕食者创造一个“恐惧的景观”，这可能会改变影响营养相互作用。该项目的目的是量化人为噪音引发的恐惧景观的变化如何影响个体和营养相互作用。我们将使用系统的回顾和实地实验来量化人类的存在如何影响不同热带水平的物种。这项工作将包括：(1)两项系统发育控制的荟萃分析，一项评估恐惧景观变化与生态系统相互作用之间的关系，另一项量化人为噪音对捕食者-猎物相互作用的影响。(2)设计并开展模拟人类缺席/存在的野外实验，以确定超级捕食者的存在对不同营养水平物种（即红松鼠、灰松鼠、松貂和狐狸）的影响。(3)与我们的CASE合作伙伴阿尔斯特野生动物基金会合作，监测动物种群，并参与将调查结果转化为基于证据的政策沟通。

Predator-prey interactions are a crucial part of functioning ecosystems, and carnivores can structure ecosystems by affecting species at lower trophic levels (Suraci et al. 2016). Independent of the direct killing of prey, the presence of predators alone can create a "landscape of fear" affecting species at multiple lower trophic levels. The perceived predation risk that the presence of predators causes in other animals is an important ecosystem service critical to conserving biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (Smith et al. 2017). However, in many ecosystems large carnivores have often been replaced by a "super predator", i.e. humans, which create a "landscape of fear" for carnivores. Often humans elicit this fear by activities emitting anthropogenic noise into the soundscapes of ecosystems. Thus, anthropogenic noise can create a "landscape of fear" for predators, which may change affect trophic interactions. The aim of the project is to quantify how changes in the landscape of fear triggered by anthropogenic noise affects individuals and trophic interactions. We will use systematic reviews and field experiments to quantify how the presence of human affects species on different tropic level. The work will include: (1) two phylogenetically controlled meta-analyses one to assess the relationship between changes in the landscape of fear and ecosystem interactions, and another to quantify the effects of anthropogenic noise on predator-prey interactions. (2) the designing and carrying out field experiments simulating the absence/presence of humans to establish how the presence of a super predator affects species on different trophic levels, i.e. red squirrels, grey squirrels, pine marten, and fox). (3) work with our CASE partner the Ulster Wildlife Trust to monitor animal populations, and engagement to translate the findings into evidence-based policy communications.