Publication Date

2021

Journal or Book Title

Ecosphere

Abstract

Predator fear effects influence reproductive outcomes in many species. In non-urban systems, passerines often respond to predator cues by reducing parental investment, resulting in smaller and lighter nestlings. Since trophic interactions in urban areas are highly altered, it is unclear how passerines respond to fear effects in human-altered landscapes. Nestlings of passerines in urban areas also tend to be smaller and lighter than their rural counterparts and are often exposed to high densities of potential predators yet experience lower per capita predation-the predation paradox. We suggest fear effects in urban habitats could be a significant mechanism influencing nestling condition in birds, despite lowered predation rates. We manipulated exposure of nesting birds to adult-consuming predator risk in residential yards across a gradient of urbanization to determine the relative influence of urbanization and fear on nestling condition. We found nestlings had reduced mass in nests exposed to predator playbacks as well as in more urban areas. Despite lower per capita predation rates in urban areas, fear effects from increased predator densities may influence passerine fitness through reduced nestling condition. As urban development expands, biodiversity conservation hinges on a deeper mechanistic understanding of how urbanization affects reproductive outcomes.

ISSN

2150-8925

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3665

ORCID

Grade, Aaron/0000-0002-5870-4786

Volume

12

Issue

7

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

License

UMass Amherst Open Access Policy

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