Komodo dragons are not ecological analogs of apex mammalian predators Jessop, Timothy, Ariefiandy, A, Forsyth, DM, Purwandana, D, White, CR, Benu, YJ, Madsen, T, Harlow, HJ and Letnic, M 2020, Komodo dragons are not ecological analogs of apex mammalian predators, Ecology, pp. 1-11, doi: 10.1002/ecy.2970. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Komodo dragons are not ecological analogs of apex mammalian predators Author(s) Jessop, Timothy orcid.org/0000-0002-7712-4373 Ariefiandy, A Forsyth, DM Purwandana, D White, CR Benu, YJ Madsen, T Harlow, HJ Letnic, M Journal name Ecology Article ID e02970 Start page 1 End page 11 Total pages 11 Publisher Wiley Place of publication Chichester, Eng. Publication date 2020-01 ISSN 0012-9658 Keyword(s) Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Ecology Environmental Sciences & Ecology large mammal per capita metabolic rate population density population energy use predatory function species traits BODY-SIZE POPULATION-DENSITY FOOD WEBS INTERACTION STRENGTHS FORAGING BEHAVIOR METABOLIC-RATE BOTTOM-UP TOP-DOWN COMMUNITY PREY Summary Apex predators can have substantial and complex ecological roles in ecosystems. However, differences in species-specific traits, population densities, and interspecific interactions are likely to determine the strength of apex predators’ roles. Here we report complementary studies examining how interactions between predator per capita metabolic rate and population density influenced the biomass, population energy use, and ecological effects of apex predators on their large mammalian prey. We first investigated how large mammal prey resources and field metabolic rates of terrestrial apex predators, comprising large mammals and the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis), influenced their biomass densities and population energy use requirements. We next evaluated whether Komodo dragons, like apex mammalian predators, exerted top-down regulation of their large mammal prey. Comparison of results from field studies demonstrates that Komodo dragons attain mean population biomass densities that are 5.75−231.82 times higher than that of apex mammalian predator species and their guilds in Africa, Asia, and North America. The high biomass of Komodo dragons resulted in 1.96−108.12 times greater population energy use than that of apex mammalian predators. Nevertheless, substantial temporal and spatial variation in Komodo dragon population energy use did not regulate the population growth rates of either of two large mammal prey species, rusa deer (Rusa timorensis) and wild pig (Sus scrofa). We suggest that multiple processes weaken the capacity of Komodo dragons to regulate large mammal prey populations. For example, a low per capita metabolic rate requiring an infrequent and inactive hunting strategy (including scavenging), would minimize lethal and nonlethal impacts on prey populations. We conclude that Komodo dragons differ in their predatory role from, including not being the ecological analogs of, apex mammalian predators. Language eng DOI 10.1002/ecy.2970 Field of Research 0501 Ecological Applications 0602 Ecology HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal ERA Research output type C Journal article Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30135094 Document type: Journal Article Collections: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment School of Life and Environmental Sciences Related Links Link Description Connect to published version Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Mon, 17 Feb 2020, 15:21:34 EST Tue, 18 Feb 2020, 04:00:34 EST Tue, 18 Feb 2020, 05:04:43 EST Thu, 27 Feb 2020, 13:43:50 EST Thu, 27 Feb 2020, 13:47:59 EST Thu, 27 Feb 2020, 14:12:30 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 0 times in TR Web of Science Cited 0 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 24 Abstract Views, 1 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 17 Feb 2020, 15:21:34 EST

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