Research overview: drought effects on prey and predator dynamics in cat systems

Drought reverberates through ecosystems by reducing vegetation, prey body condition, and reproduction, with cascading effects on the predators that depend on them. This overview surveys how droughts of increasing frequency and severity affect ungulate and small-mammal prey of wild cats, and how predators respond through movement, diet shifts, increased conflict, or declining recruitment. It reviews the lag between drought-driven prey crashes and predator responses. The synthesis frames drought as a powerful, episodic climate stressor distinct from gradual warming, explaining why predator populations can be destabilized by extreme dry years acting through the food web, and why understanding prey dynamics is central to anticipating how cats will fare under a more variable climate.