DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vdncjsxvd
title: The predator activity landscape predicts the anti‐predator behavior and distribution of prey in a tundra community

description: Predation shapes communities through consumptive and non-consumptive
 effects. In the latter case, prey respond to perceived predation risk
 through proactive or reactive risk management strategies occurring at
 different spatial and temporal scales. The predator-prey space race and
 landscape of fear concepts are useful to better understand how predation
 risk affects prey behavioral decisions and distribution. We assessed
 predation-risk effects in a terrestrial Arctic community, where the arctic
 fox is the main predator of ground-nesting birds. Using high frequency GPS
 data, we estimated a predator activity landscape corresponding to fox
 space use patterns, and validated with an artificial prey experiment that
 this predator activity landscape correlated with the predation risk
 landscape. We then investigated the effects of the fox activity landscape
 on multiple prey species, by assessing the anti-predator behavior of a
 main prey (snow goose) actively searched for by foxes, and the nest
 distribution of several incidental prey species. We first found that snow
 geese showed a stronger level of nest defense in areas highly used by
 foxes, possibly responding with a reactive strategy to variation in
 predation risk. Then, nests of incidental prey reproducing in habitats
 easily accessed by foxes had a lower probability of occurrence in areas
 highly used by foxes, suggesting these birds may use a proactive risk
 management strategy by shifting their distribution away from risky areas.
 For incidental prey species nesting in microhabitat refuges difficult to
 access by foxes, probability of nest occurrence was independent of
 predation risk in the surrounding area, as they avoid risk at a finer
 spatial scale. By tracking all individuals of the dominant predator
 species in our study area, we demonstrated the value of using predator
 space use patterns to infer spatial variation in predation risk. Overall,
 we highlight the diversity of risk management strategies in prey sharing a
 common predator, hence refining our understanding of the mechanisms
 driving species distribution and community structure.
description: The datasets (articificial prey experiment, goose behavior and
 bird nest distribution) provided here contain raw data used in the models
 presented in the article "The predator activity landscape predicts
 the anti-predator behavior and distribution of prey in a tundra
 community". They were used to model the effect of fox activity
 landscape (intensity of fox space use) on the probability of predation of
 bait (using and artificial prey experiment), goose nest defense behavior
 and bird nest distribution. Refer to the article for more details on each
 analysis. Arctic fox GPS data are available through the Movebank Data
 Repository at Berteaux, D. 2020, Arctic fox Bylot-GPS tracking, Movebank
 Study ID 1241071371. Shapefiles of our study site (e.g. polygons of ponds
 and lakes and islet locations) can be made available upon
 request.
description: The README file contains column descriptions. General information
 for the analyses are presented in the article.