Mesopredator release and avifaunal extinctions in a fragmented system

Mammalian carnivores are particularly vulnerable to extinction in fragmented landscapes', and their disappearance may lead to increased numbers of smaller carnivores that are principle predators of birds and other small vertebrates. Such 'mesopredator release'(2) has been implicated in the decline and extinction of prey species(2-6). Because experimental manipulation of carnivores is logistically, financially and ethically problematic(6,7), however, few studies have evaluated how trophic cascades generated by the decline of dominant predators combine with other fragmentation effects to influence species diversity in terrestrial systems. Although the mesopredator release hypothesis has received only limited critical evaluations and remains controversial(9), it has become the basis for conservation programmes justifying the protection of carnivores(6). Here we describe a study that exploits spatial and temporal variation in the distribution and abundance of an apex predator, the coyote, in a landscape fragmented by development. It appears that the decline and disappearance of the coyote, in conjunction with the effects of habitat fragmentation, affect the distribution and abundance of smaller carnivores and the persistence of their avian prey.