Research overview: trophic consequences of subsidised urban predators

When anthropogenic food subsidises predators, the effects ripple through food webs, altering predation pressure on native prey and interactions among carnivores. This overview synthesises research on how subsidised urban predators, including felids and free-ranging domestic cats, can depress native prey populations or reshape mesopredator dynamics, sometimes independently of natural prey abundance. It examines the concept of hyperpredation, where subsidised predators maintain high densities that overexploit vulnerable native species, and the implications for urban biodiversity. The synthesis frames food subsidies as not merely supporting predators but as restructuring the trophic relationships of human-dominated ecosystems.