OPUS: The Ecology of Big: A synthesis of 40 years of bioenergetics from keystone carnivores living large on the landscape

Since the age of sabretooth cats, the energetic demands and hunting behaviors of large (> 25 kg) carnivorous (meat-eating) mammals including the great cats, wild dogs, bears and marine mammals have led to conflicts with human activities. This has shaped land use and fisheries regulations, as well as contributed to species declines and the endangered status of many large mammal populations.

While it is recognized that predation by large mammalian carnivores dictates the structure and stability of ecosystems both on land and in the seas, knowledge about the biological traits that determine the energetic demands of these keystone predators is limited. Researchers on this project address this gap by synthesizing 40-years of energetic, behavioral and movement data for 23 species of large keystone carnivores to conduct one on the most comprehensive analyses of mammalian field energetics to date.

Broad dissemination of the results to scientific, wildlife management and public communities will foster integrative plans to support activities of both humans and keystone species living on the landscape.

Specifically, this project will create a library of 14 bioenergetic metrics and algorithms representing major indicators of ecological resource demands, and thus common keystone attributes of carnivorous mammals. Assessing bioenergetic demands across time and space will enable seasonal and spatial planning for different carnivore lineages comprising the felids, canids, ursids, mustelids, pinnipeds and cetaceans.

By creating energetic cost algorithms for swimmers and runners, the scientific community will be able to translate locomotor movements of free-ranging mammalian carnivores into energetic costs for terrestrial or marine living. Harmonizing these data with existing animal tracking-trait databases will ensure global application and accessibility. Successful completion of this project will result in a unique library of allometric equations for comparative bioenergetic modeling across species and temporal and spatial scales that are critical for predicting sustainable resource use.

These will be published in scientific journals and two technical books on carnivore energetics and scaling. Publicly accessible online and printed information about living in close proximity of large carnivores are also planned. In this way, the project will transform the understanding of both scientific and public communities regarding the unique resource needs of keystone mammals and neighboring human populations.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.