Integrating predator energetic balance, risk‐taking behaviour and microhabitat in functional response to untangle indirect interactions in a multispecies vertebrate community

作者：Andréanne Beardsell, Frédéric Dulude‐de Broin, Gilles Gauthier, Dominique Gravel, Pierre Legagneux, John P. DeLong, Dominique Berteaux, Joël Bêty · 发表于：Functional Ecology · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2435.70197 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies、Avian ecology and behavior、Wildlife Ecology and Conservation

Abstract Predator–prey interactions in natural communities are complex, with predators often exploiting multiple prey types and generating indirect interactions among them. Ecological theory has traditionally modelled these interactions using functional response models which are based on foraging rates, not energy transfers. This approach overlooks how the energy acquisition rate of a predator can alter its behaviour and, in turn, the strength of species interactions. Here, we integrate predator energetics into a functional response model to represent trade‐offs predators face when foraging on prey that vary in risk and abundance across heterogeneous landscapes. We compared model predictions to 20 years of prey species density and reproductive success data. The mechanistic model was parameterized for an Arctic tundra vertebrate community, where the Arctic fox feeds on cyclic lemmings and eggs of sandpipers (non‐risky prey) and gulls (risky prey that often nest in partial refuge like islands). In this system, predator‐mediated interactions generate apparent mutualism between lemmings and birds, but their strength varies between species, and the mechanisms underlying this interaction remain unclear. We found that fox energetic balance was highly related to lemming density, with a threshold of 89 lemmings km −2 required for a positive energetic balance. Model‐predicted gull nest acquisition rates were lowest on islands when the energetic balance of foxes was positive, and highes...