ArticleThe Journal of animal ecology2022
A novel trophic cascade between cougars and feral donkeys shapes desert wetlands.
Article in The Journal of animal ecology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Predator-prey temporal niche partitioning under human disturbance: a meta-analysis.Nature communications · 2026Pooled it
- Warming increases trophic cascade strength in an aquatic food chain.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Movement Ecology and Disease Exposure in Free-Roaming Donkeys in California, USA.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- Large herbivores are linked to higher herbaceous plant diversity and functional redundancy across spatial scales.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- Space-use by feral cattle and horses shapes vegetation structure in a trophic rewilding area.Ecological applications : a publication of the Ecological Society of America · 2026Article
- Harms of introduced large herbivores outweigh benefits to native biodiversity.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Antipredator behaviour in semi-feral horses: innate response and the influence of external factors.Animal cognition · 2025Article
- Rapid systematic literature review: Camera trap sampling in ecological studies: Considerations of wildlife welfare.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2025Review
- Preventing extinction in an age of species migration and planetary change.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2024Article
- The late-Quaternary megafauna extinctions: Patterns, causes, ecological consequences and implications for ecosystem management in the Anthropocene.Cambridge prisms. Extinction · 2024Review
- A novel trophic cascade between cougars and feral donkeys shapes desert wetlands.The Journal of animal ecology · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduced large herbivores have partly filled ecological gaps formed in the late Pleistocene, when many of the Earth's megafauna were driven extinct. However, extant predators are generally considered incapable of exerting top-down influences on introduced megafauna, leading to unusually strong disturbance and herbivory relative to native herbivores. We report on the first documented predation of juvenile feral donkeys Equus africanus asinus by cougars Puma concolor in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts of North America. We then investigated how cougar predation corresponds with differences in feral donkey behaviour and associated effects on desert wetlands. Focusing on a feral donkey population in the Death Valley National Park, we used camera traps and vegetation surveys to compare donkey activity patterns and impacts between wetlands with and without cougar predation. Donkeys were primarily diurnal at wetlands with cougar predation, thereby avoiding cougars. However, donkeys were active throughout the day and night at sites without predation. Donkeys were ~87% less active (measured as hours of activity a day) at wetlands with predation (p < 0.0001). Sites with predation had reduced donkey disturbance and herbivory, including ~46% fewer access trails, 43% less trampled bare ground and 192% more canopy cover (PERMANOVA, R
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.