The challenge that large carnivores face in coexisting with humans calls into question their ability to carry out critical ecosystem functions such as mesopredator suppression outside protected areas. In this study, we examined the movements and fates of mesopredators and large carnivores across rural landscapes characterized by substantial human influences. Mesopredators shifted their movements toward areas with twofold-greater human influence in regions occupied by large carnivores, indicating that they perceived humans to be less of a threat. However, rather than shielding mesopredators, human-caused mortality was more than three times higher than large carnivore–caused mortality. Mesopredator suppression by apex predators may thus be amplified, rather than dampened, outside protected areas, because fear of large carnivores drives mesopredators into areas of even greater risk from human super predators.

中文翻译：

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对大型食肉动物的恐惧会增加中型捕食者的人为死亡率

大型食肉动物在与人类共存方面面临的挑战让人质疑它们在保护区外执行关键生态系统功能（例如中型捕食者抑制）的能力。在这项研究中，我们研究了中型捕食者和大型食肉动物在受大量人类影响的乡村景观中的运动和命运。在大型食肉动物占据的地区，中型捕食者将它们的活动转移到人类影响力大两倍的地区，这表明它们认为人类的威胁较小。然而，人类造成的死亡率不是大型食肉动物造成的死亡率的三倍多，而不是保护中型捕食者。因此，在保护区外，顶级捕食者对中捕食者的抑制可能会被放大，而不是减弱，