Proceedings of the Vertebrate Pest Conference

Predation effects have been studied since the early days of wildlife management, with the goal of wildlife managers to balance wildlife populations with available habitat and management objectives. Still, research and public debate focuses on the degree to which vegetative carrying capacity (K) affects prey and the degree to which predation management could benefit prey species. K, to this point, has not generally considered the secondary effects that predators have on prey habitat availability. When setting wildlife management objectives, the relationship of predation impacts (i.e., factors that may cause mortality in a given species) to prey and available habitat and habitat availability must be examined carefully and understood. This paper discusses classic predator-prey relationships and the potential effects of secondary predation on prey. Managers must consider these effects and relationships to determine if, when, and how to implement an effective wildlife enhancement or predation management strategy.