Effects of landscape composition on predation rates at habitat edges

Abstract

The effect of habitat edge and patch size on rates of nest predation depends on the predator species involved and especially how they use the landscape mosaic. Edge-related increase in predation seems to be most commonly found inside forests surrounded by farmland and was rarely found in forest mosaics. The effect in open habitat seems to be unclear, mainly because it is a more heterogeneous group of habitat edges than the other ones. Thus, a habitat edge does not necessarily generate an edge-related increase in predation pressure. However, the same type of habitat patch can have different qualities, owing to differences in the surrounding habitats. Therefore, one must also take into account the properties of neighboring habitats to understand the abundance and distribution of species in habitat patches. It is not enough to just consider the size and internal habitat quality of the patch. Even prey species that experience the landscape as a mosaic of isolated habitat patches (a divided landscape) might be influenced by predators entering from the surroundings. -from Author