Data from: Trophic rewilding establishes a landscape of fear: Tasmanian devil introduction increases risk-sensitive foraging in a key prey species

Global declines of large carnivores have reduced the 'landscape of fear' that constrains the behaviour of other species. In recent years, active and passive trophic rewilding have potentially begun restoring these lost top-down controls. The Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) has declined severely due to a novel transmissible cancer. In response to extinction fears, devils were introduced to the devil-free Maria Island, where their abundance rapidly increased. We tested how this introduction influenced risk-sensitive foraging in the common brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula), a major prey species for devils, using giving-up densities (GUDs). Before the introduction of devils, possum GUDs on Maria Island were indistinguishable from the long-diseased region of Tasmania, where devils have been rare since ~2000. Three years after devil introduction, GUDs were 64% higher on Maria Island than the control region, demonstrating that after an initial period of high mortality, possums quickly adopted risk-sensitive foraging behaviours. Devil activity across Maria Island was variable, leading to a heterogeneous landscape of fear and highlighting that top predators must be at functional densities to elicit behavioural responses from prey. Our study provides strong evidence that top predators modify the behaviour of prey by instilling fear, causing rapid ecological change following recoveries.GUDdata_mBACIThis study investigated how the introduction of an apex predator, the Tasmanian devil, influenced the risk-sensitive foraging of a major prey species, the common brushtail possum. Data comes from a before-after control-impact giving-up densities foraging experiment. Please cite the published paper in Ecography (DOI: 10.1111/ecog.04635) as well as the data files on Dryad.GUDdata_secondAnalysis_AFTERonlyThis study investigated how the introduction of an apex predator, the Tasmanian devil, influenced the risk-sensitive foraging of a major prey species, the common brushtail possum. This data comes from the "after" period of a before-after control-impact giving-up densities foraging experiment. We used this part of the data to assess how the local activity of Tasmanian devils recorded on remote cameras influenced possum foraging behaviour. Please cite the published paper in Ecography (DOI: 10.1111/ecog.04635) as well as the data files on Dryad