Barocas Research Group 
Carnivore ecology in dynamic landscapes  

Research carried out since 2018 on carnivores in Israel’s Negev desert has revealed a spectrum of behavioral adaptations to extreme aridity and increasing human presence. Large generalist predators like the Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs) have demonstrated significant behavioral plasticity by shifting from reliance on scarce natural ungulates to human-derived subsidies, such as garbage and agricultural produce. This dependence is reflected in their spatial behavior; wolves show a strong positive functional response to human infrastructure, moving primarily along road networks during nighttime to minimize energy expenditure and avoid high temperatures. In contrast, mesopredators like the caracal (Caracal caracal) and Rüppell’s fox (Vulpes rueppellii) maintain a more pronounced reliance on natural prey and undisturbed habitats, highlighting divergent survival strategies within the same ecosystem.

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Creek beds, or wadis, emerge as the most critical landscape feature for maintaining native predator-prey dynamics. For caracals and Rüppell’s foxes, these areas provide milder microclimates and higher concentrations of primary prey, such as Cape hares, rodents, and invertebrates. While wolves may use these areas, their space use is heavily skewed toward anthropogenic patches. 

 

Human infrastructure acts as both a resource and a deterrent, creating a "landscape of risk" that dictates carnivore movement. Caracals and Rüppell’s foxes generally avoid paved roads and settlements, likely perceiving them as high-risk areas due to potential encounters with vehicles or larger predators like wolves. However, these responses are often seasonal; caracals may increase their use of agricultural areas during the wet season to exploit seasonal vegetation growth and prey concentrations. These shifting spatial strategies suggest that while some species can coexist with expanding agriculture, others remain highly sensitive to fragmentation driven by linear infrastructure.

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Future research directions are shifting toward understanding the cascading effects of these carnivores on ecosystem functionality, specifically soil and vegetation health. A key objective is to evaluate how predators (wolves, hyenas, and jackals) exert top-down control on herbivore spatial distribution, which in turn affects plant cover, seed dispersal, and biological soil crusts in riverbeds. Additionally, addressing the temporal disparity between historical telemetry data and contemporary landscape changes is essential. In future studies, we plan to leverage modern high-resolution movement ecology and remote sensing to determine if native carnivores like the caracal and Ruppell's fox can continue to maintain their ecological function as natural predators or if they will eventually be forced to transition toward human subsidies as agricultural development expands.