title: Phantoms of the forest: legacy risk effects of a regionally extinct large carnivore.
abstract: The increased abundance of large carnivores in Europe is a conservation success, but the impact on the behavior and population dynamics of prey species is generally unknown. In Europe, the recolonization of large carnivores often occurs in areas where humans have greatly modified the landscape through forestry or agriculture. Currently, we poorly understand the effects of recolonizing large carnivores on extant prey species in anthropogenic landscapes. Here, we investigated if ungulate prey species showed innate responses to the scent of a regionally exterminated but native large carnivore, and whether the responses were affected by human-induced habitat openness. We experimentally introduced brown bear Ursus arctos scent to artificial feeding sites and used camera traps to document the responses of three sympatric ungulate species. In addition to controls without scent, reindeer scent Rangifer tarandus was used as a noncarnivore, novel control scent. Fallow deer Dama dama strongly avoided areas with bear scent. In the presence of bear scent, all ungulate species generally used open sites more than closed sites, whereas the opposite was observed at sites with reindeer scent or without scent. The opening of forest habitat by human practices, such as forestry and agriculture, creates a larger gradient in habitat openness than available in relatively unaffected closed forest systems, which may create opportunities for prey to alter their habitat selection and reduce predation risk in human-modified systems that do not exist in more natural forest systems. Increased knowledge about antipredator responses in areas subjected to anthropogenic change is important because these responses may affect prey population dynamics, lower trophic levels, and attitudes toward large carnivores. These aspects may be of particular relevance in the light of the increasing wildlife populations across much of Europe.
authors: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden; Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University 110 Brooks Ave Raleigh NC 27607.
authors: Ellinor
authors: E
authors: Sahlén
authors: Department of Integrative Biology and Biodiversity Research Institute for Wildlife Biology and Game Management University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna Austria.
authors: Sonja
authors: S
authors: Noell
authors: Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University 110 Brooks Ave Raleigh NC 27607.
authors: Christopher S
authors: CS
authors: DePerno
authors: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden.
authors: Jonas
authors: J
authors: Kindberg
authors: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden; Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology Program Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources North Carolina State University 110 Brooks Ave Raleigh NC 27607.
authors: Göran
authors: G
authors: Spong
authors: Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Skogsmarksgränd SE-901 83 Umeå Sweden; Department of Zoology Centre for African Conservation Ecology Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University PO Box 77000 Port Elizabeth 6031 South Africa.
authors: Joris P G M
authors: JP
authors: Cromsigt
keywords: Anthropogenic change; antipredator response; brown bear; landscape of fear; predator‐prey interactions; prey naivety; ungulates