2026-10-14T14:10:05Z https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai

oai:figshare.com:article/30331144 2026-09-28T05:13:06Z category_24217 item_type_3 month_year_09_2026

Data from: Burned habitats facilitate predation and lead to long-term reductions in prey success Kirby Mills (22278727) Martin Leclerc (3241605) Mark A. Ditmer (5672699) David C. Stoner (23608243) Zachary L. Steel (504401) Joseph O. Sexton (8407317) Panshi Wang (4992284) Kent Hershey (25119580) Cody Schroeder (25119581) Alyson M. Andreasen (3252438) Kristin V. T. Engebretsen (5566223) Julie K. Young (8035061) Brock McMillan (25119584) Randy Larsen (2806687) Derek Hall (3843274) Brandon Holton (3993140) David Choate (25119585) Neil H. Carter (8539293) Community ecology (excl. invasive species ecology) species interactions Puma concolor Odocoileus hemionus hemionus wildfire fire severity <p dir="ltr">Intensifying wildfire regimes under global change are expected to shift species interactions through changes in habitat structure and composition, vegetation productivity, and sensory cues. Yet there is little evidence of how burn-induced changes in habitat composition and structure modify predator-prey relationships. We investigated how wildfires influence relationships between mule deer (<i>Odocoileus hemionus</i>) and cougars (<i>Puma concolor</i>) in the US Intermountain West using high-resolution telemetry data, kill site locations, and annual measures of mule deer fawn production. Burned habitats experienced a wide range of fire severities, and most fires occurred between 5-20 years prior to animal data collection. We found that cougars were located closer to deer and their kill sites were nearly 2x more likely to occur in burned areas compared to unburned sites, suggesting that burns confer advantages to predators. In addition, fawn production declined by up to 14% at sites with histories of more recent, higher severity burns. Our findings suggest that increasingly frequent, severe burns are diminishing herbivore reproductive success, potentially due to increasing predation risks that outweigh improved foraging opportunities for prey. Ultimately, we reveal a possible pathway through which changing fire regimes could threaten herbivore prey populations in Western US ecosystems.</p> 2026-09-28T05:13:06Z Dataset Dataset 10.6084/m9.figshare.30331144.v2 https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Data_Code_Burned_habitats_facilitate_predation_and_lead_to_long-term_reductions_in_prey_success/30331144 CC BY 4.0