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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Dogs suppress a pivotal function in the food webs of sandy beaches
Scientific Reports, Vol.12, pp.1-10
2022
Abstract
Domestic dogs are the most abundant carnivore globally and have demonstrable negative impacts to wildlife; yet, little evidence regarding their functional roles in natural food webs exists. Adding dogs to food webs may result in a net loss (via suppression of naturally occurring species), net gain (via mesopredator release), or no change (via functional replacement) to ecosystem function. Scavenging is a pivotal function in ecosystems, particularly those that are energetically supported by carrion. Dogs also scavenge on animal carcasses, but whether scavenging by dogs influences the structural and functional properties of food webs remains unclear. Here we used camera traps baited with carrion to test the effect of dogs on the composition and diversity of the vertebrate scavenger guild, as well as carrion detection and consumption rates. We conducted this work in sandy beach ecosystems, which rely on the import of marine organic matter (i.e. stranding of dead marine animals). Diversity of the scavenger community was similar on beaches without dogs. Dogs increased the time it took for carcasses to be detected and decreased the proportion of carrion consumed. This ‘dog suppression effect’ on scavenging was stronger for nocturnal mammalian scavengers, presumably being driven by indirect trait-mediated effects, which raises further questions about the broader ecological consequences of domestic dogs in natural systems.
Details
- Title
- Dogs suppress a pivotal function in the food webs of sandy beaches
- Authors
- Brooke Maslo (Corresponding Author) - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyRobert Kwait (Author) - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyChristian Crosby (Author) - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyPrice Holman (Author) - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyIsabelle Zoccolo (Author) - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyKathleen Kerwin (Author) - Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyTodd Pover (Author)Thomas A. Schlacher (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Publication details
- Scientific Reports, Vol.12, pp.1-10
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date published
- 2022
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41598-022-18194-9
- ISSN
- 2045-2322
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99666997902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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