Fear of predation is a universal motivator. Because predators hunt using stealth and surprise, there is a widespread ability among prey to assess risk from chemical information – scents – in their environment. Consequently, scents often act as particularly strong modulators of memory and emotions. Recent advances in ecological research and analytical technology are leading to novel ways to use this chemical information to create effective attractants, repellents and anti‐anxiolytic compounds for wildlife managers, conservation biologists and health practitioners. However, there is extensive variation in the design, results, and interpretation of studies of olfactory‐based risk discrimination. To understand the highly variable literature in this area, we adopt a multi‐disciplinary approach and synthesize the latest findings from neurobiology, chemical ecology, and ethology to propose a contemporary framework that accounts for such disparate factors as the time‐limited stability of chemicals, highly canalized mechanisms that influence prey responses, and the context within which these scents are detected (e.g. availability of alternative resources, perceived shelter, and ambient physical parameters). This framework helps to account for the wide range of reported responses by prey to predator scents, and explains, paradoxically, how the same individual predator scent can be interpreted as either safe or dangerous to a prey animal depending on how, when and where the cue was deposited. We provide a hypothetical example to illustrate the most common factors that influence how a predator scent (from dingoes, Canis dingo) may both attract and repel the same target organism (kangaroos, Macropus spp.). This framework identifies the catalysts that enable dynamic scents, odours or odorants to be used as attractants as well as deterrents. Because effective scent tools often relate to traumatic memories (fear and/or anxiety) that cause future avoidance, this information may also guide the development of appeasement, enrichment and anti‐anxiolytic compounds, and help explain the observed variation in post‐traumatic‐related behaviours (including post‐traumatic stress disorder, PTSD) among diverse terrestrial taxa, including humans.

中文翻译：

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具有生物学意义的气味：跨学科理解捕食者-猎物研究的框架

对捕食的恐惧是一种普遍的动力。由于捕食者使用隐身和突袭进行捕猎，猎物普遍具有评估环境中化学信息（气味）风险的能力。因此，气味通常充当特别强大的记忆和情绪调节剂。生态研究和分析技术的最新进展带来了新方法，可以利用这些化学信息为野生动物管理者、保护生物学家和健康从业者创造有效的引诱剂、驱虫剂和抗焦虑化合物。然而，基于嗅觉的风险辨别研究的设计、结果和解释存在广泛差异。为了理解这一领域的高度可变的文献，我们采用了多学科方法并综合了神经生物学的最新发现，化学生态学和行为学提出了一个当代框架，该框架解释了诸如化学品的时限稳定性、影响猎物反应的高度渠道化机制以及检测到这些气味的背景（例如替代资源的可用性、感知住所和环境物理参数）。该框架有助于解释猎物对捕食者气味的广泛报告反应，并矛盾地解释了如何根据提示的方式、时间和地点将相同的捕食者气味解释为对猎物是安全的还是危险的被存放。我们提供了一个假设的例子来说明影响捕食者气味（来自澳洲野狗、Canis dingo）如何吸引和排斥同一目标生物（袋鼠、Macropus 属）。该框架确定了使动态气味、气味或气味剂能够用作引诱剂和威慑剂的催化剂。因为有效的气味工具通常与导致未来回避的创伤性记忆（恐惧和/或焦虑）有关，这些信息也可能指导安抚、充实和抗焦虑化合物的发展，并有助于解释观察到的创伤后相关变化包括人类在内的不同陆地分类群之间的行为（包括创伤后应激障碍，PTSD）。