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Patterns of predation in a diverse predator–prey system

Nature volume 425, pages 288–290 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

There are many cases where animal populations are affected by predators and resources in terrestrial ecosystems1,2,3, but the factors that determine when one or the other predominates remain poorly understood4,5. Here we show, using 40 years of data from the highly diverse mammal community of the Serengeti ecosystem, East Africa, that the primary cause of mortality for adults of a particular species is determined by two factors—the species diversity of both the predators and prey and the body size of that prey species relative to other prey and predators. Small ungulates in Serengeti are exposed to more predators, owing to opportunistic predation, than are larger ungulates; they also suffer greater predation rates, and experience strong predation pressure. A threshold occurs at prey body sizes of ∼150 kg, above which ungulate species have few natural predators and exhibit food limitation. Thus, biodiversity allows both predation (top-down) and resource limitation (bottom-up) to act simultaneously to affect herbivore populations. This result may apply generally in systems where there is a diversity of predators and prey.

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Figure 1: The range of weights of mammal prey consumed by carnivores of different sizes in the Serengeti ecosystem.
Figure 2: The number of mammal carnivore species that prey upon the savannah ungulates of different body sizes in Serengeti.
Figure 3: The proportion of annual adult mortality accounted for by predation in ten non-migratory ungulate populations for which data were available in the Serengeti ecosystem.
Figure 4: Densities of six ungulates in a predator removal area in northern Serengeti17,27 compared with an adjacent control in the Mara Reserve23.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute and Tanzania National Parks for facilitating our research in Serengeti. We thank NSERC Canada and the National Geographic Society for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biodiversity Research, University of British Columbia, 6270 University Boulevard, V6T 1Z4, Vancouver, Canada

    A. R. E. Sinclair, Simon Mduma & Justin S. Brashares

  2. Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, Box 661, Arusha, Tanzania

    Simon Mduma

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  1. A. R. E. Sinclair
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  2. Simon Mduma
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  3. Justin S. Brashares
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Correspondence to A. R. E. Sinclair.

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Sinclair, A., Mduma, S. & Brashares, J. Patterns of predation in a diverse predator–prey system. Nature 425, 288–290 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01934

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