Feast to famine: sympatric predators respond differently to seasonal
prey scarcity on the low-Arctic tundra
Abstract
Resource fluctuation is a major driver of animal movement, influencing
strategic choices such as residency vs nomadism, or social dynamics. The
Arctic tundra is characterized by strong seasonality: resources are
abundant during the short summers but scarce in winters. Therefore,
expansion of boreal-forest species onto the tundra raises questions on
how they cope with winter-resource scarcity. We examined a recent
incursion by red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) onto the coastal tundra of
western Hudson Bay, an area historically occupied by Arctic foxes
(Vulpes lagopus) that lacks access to anthropogenic foods, and compared
seasonal shifts in space use of the two species. We used 4 years of
telemetry data following 8 red foxes and 11 Arctic foxes to test the
hypothesis that the movement strategies of both species are primarily
driven by temporal variability of resources. We also predicted that the
harsh tundra conditions in winter affect red foxes more than Arctic
foxes, which are adapted to this environment. Dispersal was the most
frequent winter movement strategy in both fox species, despite its
association with high mortality (winter mortality was 9.4 times higher
in dispersers than residents). Red foxes consistently dispersed towards
the boreal forest, whereas Arctic foxes primarily used sea ice to
disperse. Home range size of red and Arctic foxes did not differ in
summer, but resident red foxes substantially increased their home range
size in winter, whereas home range size of resident Arctic foxes did not
change seasonally. As climate changes, abiotic constraints on some
species may relax, but associated declines in prey communities may lead
to local extirpation of many predators, notably by favoring dispersal
during resource scarcity.