The DOI matches its Crossref record; 53 of the 53 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Predator–prey size relationships in an African large-mammal food web
Open accessAbstract
1. Size relationships are central in structuring trophic linkages within food webs, leading to suggestions that the dietary niche of smaller carnivores is nested within that of larger species. However, past analyses have not taken into account the differing selection shown by carnivores for specific size ranges of prey, nor the extent to which the greater carcass mass of larger prey outweighs the greater numerical representation of smaller prey species in the predator diet. Furthermore, the top-down impact that predation has on prey abundance cannot be assessed simply in terms of the number of predator species involved. 2. Records of found carcasses and cause of death assembled over 46 years in the Kruger National Park, South Africa, corrected for under-recording of smaller species, enabled a definitive assessment of size relationships between large mammalian carnivores and their ungulate prey. Five carnivore species were considered, including lion (Panthera leo), leopard (Panthera pardus), cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus), African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) and spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and 22 herbivore prey species larger than 10 kg in adult body mass. 3. These carnivores selectively favoured prey species approximately half to twice their mass, within a total prey size range from an order of magnitude below to an order of magnitude above the body mass of the predator. The three smallest carnivores, i.e. leopard, cheetah and wild dog, showed high similarity in prey species favoured. Despite overlap in prey size range, each carnivore showed a distinct dietary preference. 4. Almost all mortality was through the agency of a predator for ungulate species up to the size of a giraffe (800-1200 kg). Ungulates larger than twice the mass of the predator contributed substantially to the dietary intake of lions, despite the low proportional mortality inflicted by predation on these species. Only for megaherbivores substantially exceeding 1000 kg in adult body mass did predation become a negligible cause of mortality. 5. Hence, the relative size of predators and prey had a pervasive structuring influence on biomass fluxes within this large-mammal food web. Nevertheless, the large carnivore assemblage was dominated overwhelmingly by the largest predator, which contributed the major share of animals killed across a wide size range.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Lions, Panthera leo, are of particular interest in predator-prey studies because, when present, they are responsible for the majority of mammal herbivore mortality and biomass consumed for prey species larger than 10 kg [34].”
From Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket (2016) · cites this paper as [34]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
The Limiting Similarity, Convergence, and Divergence of Coexisting Species
Macarthur, R., & Levins, R. (1967) · The American Naturalist · doi:10.1086/282505 · Cited by 4,611
The Mammals of the Southern African Sub-region
Skinner, J. D., & Chimimba, C. T. (2005) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781107340992 · Cited by 1,946
The mammals of the southern African subregion
(2006) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.44-0035 · Cited by 1,903
Body size in ecological networks
WOODWARD, G., EBENMAN, B., EMMERSON, M., MONTOYA, J., OLESEN, J., VALIDO, A., & WARREN, P. (2005) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2005.04.005 · Cited by 1,251
Population density and body size in mammals
Damuth, J. D. (1981) · Nature · doi:10.1038/290699a0 · Cited by 1,189
The Serengeti Lion The Serengeti Lion. A Study of Predator-Prey Relations George B. Schaller
Gelder, R. G. V. (1973) · BioScience · doi:10.2307/1296618 · Cited by 1,010
The Spotted Hyena. A Study of Predation and Social Behavior
Southern, H. N., & Kruuk, H. (1973) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.2307/3145 · Cited by 995
Megaherbivores: The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology
Owen-Smith, R. N. (1988) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511565441 · Cited by 955
Self-citationMegaherbivores: The Influence of Very Large Body Size on Ecology
Owen‐Smith, N. (1988) · Cited by 882
Self-citationRelationships between body size and abundance in ecology
White, E. P., Ernest, S. K. M., Kerkhoff, A. J., & Enquist, B. J. (2007) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2007.03.007 · Cited by 857
Research works printed but not linked: 6
- Elton C.S., 1927, Animal Ecology
- Mills M.G.L., 2003, The Kruger Experience: Ecology and Management of Savanna Heterogeneity, 370
- Owen‐Smith N., 2003, The Kruger Experience: Ecology and Management of Savanna Heterogeneity, 310
- Pianka E.R., 1981, Theoretical Ecology, 167
- Schaller G.B., 1972, The Serengeti Lion
- Smuts G.L., 1979, Diet of lions and spotted hyenas assessed from stomach contents, South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 9, 20
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Daily torpor and hibernation in birds and mammals
Ruf, T., & Geiser, F. (2014) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/brv.12137 · Cited by 839
Valeix, M., Loveridge, A. J., Chamaillé-Jammes, S., Davidson, Z., Murindagomo, F., Fritz, H., & Macdonald, D. W. (2009) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/08-0606.1 · Cited by 478
Biology of the sauropod dinosaurs: the evolution of gigantism
Sander, P. M., Christian, A., Clauß, M., Fechner, R., Gee, C. T., Griebeler, E. M., Gunga, H., Hummel, J., Mallison, H., Perry, S. F., et al. (2010) · Biological reviews/Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · doi:10.1111/j.1469-185x.2010.00137.x · Cited by 429
The ecological effects of providing resource subsidies to predators
Newsome, T. M., Dellinger, J. A., Pavey, C. R., Ripple, W. J., Shores, C. R., Wirsing, A. J., & Dickman, C. R. (2014) · Global Ecology and Biogeography · doi:10.1111/geb.12236 · Cited by 428
Hopcraft, J. G. C., Olff, H., & SINCLAIR, A. R. E. (2009) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.08.001 · Cited by 403
Metadata
- Authors
- Owen‐Smith, N., & Mills, M. G. L.
- Affiliations
- University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
- University of Pretoria (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- Owen‐Smith, Norman
- Venue
- Journal of Animal Ecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2007-10-26
- Volume
- 77
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 173-183
- ISSN
- 0021-8790 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2656
- OpenAlex
- W2014229261
- Cited by
- 374
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 26 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 17 · 2013: 30 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 10.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Animal Ecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- UpSpace Institutional Repository (University of Pretoria) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Keywords
- predator-prey size relationship, large carnivores, ungulate prey, carnivore diet, prey selection, causes of death, lion, leopard, cheetah, Lycaon pictus, spotted hyena, top-down control, food web structure, Kruger National Park
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Body Weight, Carnivora, Feeding Behavior, Female, Male, Perissodactyla, Population Dynamics, Predatory Behavior, South Africa, Ecosystem, Biomass, Food Chain, Body Size
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
