Journal Article

Intra-guild competition and ecosystem services of mammal scavengers in a new colonized wolf landscape

Brogi, Rudy, Bongi, Paolo, Del Frate, Marco, Cavallera, Anna, Sieni, Sara, Apollonio, Marco

2025

Overview

Carcass utilization by scavengers is crucial for ecosystem dynamics, influencing energy transfer and nutrient cycling. Through the provision of unconsumed carcasses, the return of wolves ( Canis lupus ) to European ecosystems can trigger complex cascading effects on scavenger communities. Here, we investigate the scavenging dynamics of mammalian species in a prey-rich Mediterranean coastal area close to a large city where wolves have recently returned. Using camera traps, we monitored the scavenging activity on fallow deer ( Dama dama ) carcasses preyed upon by wolves over a five-year period following the predator’s return. We developed models to assess how competition between red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ), wild boars ( Sus scrofa ), and wolves evolved over time, focusing on their carcass use, direct interactions, and spatiotemporal associations. Wolves exhibited consumption of only minor portions of prey and a negligible reuse of carcasses, while foxes and wild boars engaged in indirect competition for access to this emerging trophic niche. We found a notable temporal change in scavenging activity over the monitoring period, with wild boars progressively emerging as the primary scavenger and providing a substantial removal of carcass biomass. Our findings suggest that wild boars can assume a prominent scavenging role in environments where carcass availability is both abundant and predictable. This study underscores the importance of understanding scavenger temporal dynamics in the context of apex predator recolonization and highlights the need for further research to explore the long-term impacts of these interactions on community structure and ecosystem services as wolf populations continue to expand across Europe. Significance statement Carcass utilization and competition among scavengers play critical roles in shaping ecosystem dynamics and services. While previous studies have often viewed interspecific competition among scavengers as a static process, our research delves into the temporal progression of scavenging on unconsumed carcasses, killed in large number and only partially consumed by wolves upon their return to a prey-rich, human-dominated landscape. The simple scavenger community inhabiting the area proved remarkably efficient in removing the carcasses, primarily due to the increasing success of wild boars over red foxes and even wolves themselves in exploiting this emerging niche. As wolf populations continue to recover and expand across Europe, insights from this study are of utmost importance for predicting future scenarios of food chain dynamics and for devising strategies to mitigate potential biological hazards associated with carcass release in human-dominated landscapes.

• Publisher: Springer Berlin Heidelberg,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Animal Ecology / Animal populations / Animals / Behavioral Sciences / Biohazards / biomass / Biomedical and Life Sciences / cameras / Canidae / Canis lupus / Carcasses / Cervus dama / Chain dynamics / Coastal areas / Coastal zone / coasts / Community / Community structure / Competition / Dama dama / Deer / Dynamics / Ecosystem dynamics / Ecosystem services / Ecosystems / Energy transfer / Europe / Food chains / Foxes / Hazard mitigation / Landscape / landscapes / Life Sciences / Mammals / Niches / Nutrient cycles / Nutrient dynamics / Original Article / Population studies / Populations / Predators / Prey / Recolonization / Reuse / Scavengers / Scavenging / Services / species / Sus scrofa / temporal variation / Time / Vulpes vulpes / Wolves / Zoology