Landscape of fear in Europe: wolves affect spatial patterns of ungulate browsing in Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland

A study in Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland, reveals that wolves (Canis lupus) significantly influence ungulate browsing patterns through both density-mediated and behaviorally-mediated effects. Research found that browsing intensity on tree saplings was 50.5% lower within wolf core areas—where predator presence is highest—compared to the rest of the pack's home range (58.3%). Additionally, increased coarse woody debris (CWD), which acts as an escape impediment for ungulates, further reduced browsing intensity inside these core areas but not outside them. This suggests that risk effects from predators, enhanced by habitat characteristics like CWD, can be more impactful than direct predation pressure on lower trophic levels. The study highlights the importance of behaviorally-mediated predator-prey dynamics in European ecosystems and demonstrates how physical landscape features can modulate cascading effects of large predators on tree regeneration.

Kuijper, D. P. J., de Kleine, C., Churski, M., van Hooft, P., Bubnicki, J., & Jędrzejewska, B. (2013). Landscape of fear in Europe: wolves affect spatial patterns of ungulate browsing in Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland. Ecography, 36(12), 1263–1275. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0587.2013.00266.x