Intra- and interspecific relationships of alpine ungulates reorganise along a wolf recolonisation gradient
- 1Fondazione Edmund Mach; University of Trento; Stelvio National Park; University of Bologna
Abstract
Apex predators are recovering across many ecosystems after decades of decline, yet whether their return can restore ecological interactions disrupted by their loss remains poorly understood. Here, we used the ongoing recolonisation of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in the south-eastern Alps as a natural gradient of predator recovery to examine how predation risk and human disturbance shape relationships among red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). Across a gradient of time since wolf establishment, roe deer increasingly occupied sites without red deer, suggesting predator recovery alters relationships between prey species. Red deer also formed larger groups, consistent with a shift in collective behaviour under increased predation risk. Human disturbance also affected group formation in red deer and chamois. Together, these findings show that prey community structure can vary with wolf recovery, even in human-dominated landscapes, through altered associations among species and grouping within species.
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BibTeX
@misc{vanderlocht2026intra,
title = {{Intra- and interspecific relationships of alpine ungulates reorganise along a wolf recolonisation gradient}},
author = {C. Vanderlocht and A. Corradini and L. Corlatti and V. Donini and F. Ferretti and L. Limonciello and M. Musiani and F. Ossi and N. Squillaci and L. Viviani and L. Pedrotti and H. C. Hauffe and F. Cagnacci},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.12.758551},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.12.758551v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Intra- and interspecific relationships of alpine ungulates reorganise along a wolf recolonisation gradient
AU - C. Vanderlocht
AU - A. Corradini
AU - L. Corlatti
AU - V. Donini
AU - F. Ferretti
AU - L. Limonciello
AU - M. Musiani
AU - F. Ossi
AU - N. Squillaci
AU - L. Viviani
AU - L. Pedrotti
AU - H. C. Hauffe
AU - F. Cagnacci
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/12
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.12.758551
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.12.758551v1
AB - Apex predators are recovering across many ecosystems after decades of decline, yet whether their return can restore ecological interactions disrupted by their loss remains poorly understood. Here, we used the ongoing recolonisation of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in the south-eastern Alps as a natural gradient of predator recovery to examine how predation risk and human disturbance shape relationships among red deer (Cervus elaphus), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), and Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). Across a gradient of time since wolf establishment, roe deer increasingly occupied sites without red deer, suggesting predator recovery alters relationships between prey species. Red deer also formed larger groups, consistent with a shift in collective behaviour under increased predation risk. Human disturbance also affected group formation in red deer and chamois. Together, these findings show that prey community structure can vary with wolf recovery, even in human-dominated landscapes, through altered associations among species and grouping within species.
ER -