Find research datasets worth reusing

openCC (other)Apr 2024View details →

Snail Shell Strength and Total Crush Force of a Northern Michigan Snail as a Function of Predation Risk at the University of Michigan Biological Station Stream Research Facility (5/31/23-8/1/23)

Many prey organisms respond to the non-consumptive effects of predators by altering their physiology, morphology, and behavior. These inducible defenses can create refuges for prey by decreasing the likelihood of consumption by predators. Some prey, as in marine mollusks, have been shown to alter their morphology in response to the presence of size-limited predation. To extend this work into the freshwater realm, we presented pointed campeloma snails (Campeloma decisum) to chemical cues from a natural predator, the rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus), to better understand how snail morphology changes under the threat of predation. The total force needed to crush shells, total shell length, aperture width, and total weight, along with changes to these three body measurements were recorded for each individual and used to quantify morphological changes as a function of risk. Snails exposed to crayfish chemical cues needed significantly more force to crush their shells than controls (p = 0.002). Total shell length was greater in crayfish exposed snails than control snails (p = 0.002), and snails in the crayfish treatment also showed significantly more change in shell length than control snails (p = 0.003). Similarly, aperture width was significantly greater in exposed snails (p = 0.002). However, exposed snails exhibited significantly less change in aperture width than controls (p = 0.017). Finally, we found that snails exposed to crayfish weighed significantly more than snails in the control (p = 0.0009). Thus, the results of this study show that morphology of gastropods is altered in the presence of predators, and this may be an antipredator tactic directly related to risk.

The interactive effects of predator stress, predation, and the herbicide Roundup®

These data are from a mesocosm experiment examined how lethal predators and cues from caged predators potentially interacted with four concentrations of the herbicide Roundup® in its effects on three species of tadpoles (gray tree frogs, green frogs, bulfrogs).

Predator effects on metamorphosis: The effects of scaring versus thinning at high prey densities.

Organisms with complex life cycles face the challenge of when to switch between habitats and foraging strategies over ontogeny in ways that improve their fitness. Metamorphosis is a well-studied life history event in animals and ecologists have spent decades trying to understand how the size at and time to metamorphosis are altered by natural stressors such as competition and predation. The challenges in interpreting the effects of predators on metamorphic decisions include the need to compare predator species that pose different levels of risk, compare the roles of predators inducing fear versus thinning of the density of prey, and examine prey life history traits and behavior over ontogeny. We addressed these challenges in a mesocosm experiment in which we introduced a high initial density of hatchling Northern Leopard Frogs (Rana pipiens) and exposed them to three different species of caged predators (to induce three different levels of fear), three rates of hand-thinning (to mimic the thinning effect of each predator), or three species of lethal predators (to cause induction and thinning). Under these initial high densities, we found that caged predators had no effects on tadpole activity, growth, and development. This outcome was likely due to the high density of tadpoles causing high competition, which can inhibit anti-predator responses. High rates of hand thinning caused decreased tadpole activity, greater mass, and faster development. Interestingly, lethal predators caused phenotypic changes that were largely in line with the hand thinning effects alone. These results suggest that at high initial prey densities, the thinning process of predation appears plays a much more important role in prey metamorphosis than induction from predatory chemical cues.

Dissecting the smell of fear from conspecific and heterospecific prey: Investigating the processes that induce anti-predator defenses.

Prey use chemical cues from predation events to obtain information about predation risk to alter their phenotypes. Though we know how many prey respond to predators, we still have a poor understanding of the processes and chemical cues involved during a predation event. We examined how gray treefrog tadpoles (Hyla verisciolor) altered their behavior and morphology when raised with cues from different stages of predator attack, predators fed different amounts of prey, and predators consuming different combinations of treefrog tadpoles or snails (Helisoma trivolvis). We found that starved predators and predators fed snails induced no defensive responses whereas tadpoles exposed to a predator consuming gray treefrogs induced greater hiding, lower activity, and relatively deeper tails. We also found that the tadpoles did not respond to crushed, chewed, or digested conspecifics, but they did respond to consumed (i.e. chewed + digested) conspecifics. When we increased the treefrog biomass consumed by predators, tadpoles frequently increased their defenses when only tadpoles were consumed and always increased their defenses when the total diet biomass was held constant via the inclusion of snails. When predators experienced temporal variation in diet composition, including cues from snails to cause additional digestive cues or chemical noise, there was no effect on tadpole phenotypes. Our results suggest that amphibian prey rely on cues from both chewing and digestion of conspecifics and that the presence of cues from digested heterospecifics play little or no role in adding chemical noise or increased digestive enzymes and by-products that interfere with induced defenses.

openCC (other)May 2024View details →

Exposure to sublethal concentrations of a pesticide or predator cues induces changes in brain architecture in larval amphibians, 2013.

Naturally occurring environmental factors shape developmental trajectories to produce variable phenotypes. Such developmental phenotypic plasticity can have important effects on fitness, and has been demonstrated for numerous behavioral and morphological traits. However, surprisingly few studies have examined developmental plasticity of the nervous system in response to naturally occurring environmental variation, despite accumulating evidence for neuroplasticity in a variety of organisms. Here, we asked whether the brain is developmentally plastic by exposing larval amphibians to natural and anthropogenic factors. Leopard frog tadpoles were exposed to predator cues, reduced food availability, or sublethal concentrations of the pesticide chlorpyrifos in semi-natural enclosures. Mass, growth, survival, activity, larval period, external morphology, brain mass, and brain morphology were measured in tadpoles and after metamorphosis. Tadpoles in the experimental treatments had lower masses than controls, although developmental rates and survival were similar. Tadpoles exposed to predator cues or a high dose of chlorpyrifos had altered body shapes compared to controls. In addition, brains from tadpoles exposed to predator cues or a low dose of chlorpyrifos were narrower and shorter in several dimensions compared to control tadpoles and tadpoles with low food availability. Interestingly, the changes in brain morphology present at the tadpole stage did not persist in the metamorphs. Our results show that brain morphology is a developmentally plastic trait that is responsive to ecologically relevant natural and anthropogenic factors. Whether these effects on brain morphology are linked to performance or fitness is unknown.

Quantifying the relation between predator-induced behavior and growth performance in larval anurans, 1999.

Because the nature and magnitude of species interactions are functions of the traits that species possess, understanding how individual traits affect performance is important to our understanding of community structure. To examine the relation between species traits and performance, we first assessed behavioral responses of two larval anurans to three predator species in the laboratory. We then correlated these responses with growth performance of the two anurans when they competed in the field. In the laboratory experiment, larval bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) and green frogs (R. clamitans) exhibited no reduction in activity or spatial avoidance to bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus), moderate reductions in activity and spatial avoidance of mudminnows (Umbra limi ), and large reductions in activity and spatial avoidance of larval dragonflies (Anax spp.). In the field experiment, these behavioral responses were directly related to corresponding reductions in growth of the anuran larvae. Thus, for both species, changes in growth in the field could be correlated to the behavioral responses observed in the laboratory. Further, proportional changes in behavior in the presence of the different predators appeared to be related to changes in competitive relations in the field.

openCC (other)Oct 2022View details →

Throw trap and electrofishing data collected during 1996–2022 from the Everglades, Florida, United States for the publication "Hydrology-mediated ecological function of a large wetland threatened by an invasive predator"

Asian swamp eels (Monopterus albus/javanensis complex) were first reported from Florida in 1997 and the Everglades in 2007; swamp eels have been established in Taylor Slough of Everglades National Park since 2014. This dataset incorporates plot-level mean densities (# of individuals per square meter) of common aquatic animals collected during 1996–2022 from 24 sites across four regions of the Everglades: Taylor Slough, Shark River Slough, Water Conservation Area 3, and the C-111 Panhandle. Prey species included are the six most common small fishes prior to swamp eel invasion of Taylor Slough (1996–2009) and the three common decapod species (two crayfish species and grass shrimp). An annual index of mean wet season electrofishing catch-per-unit-effort of swamp eels, Mayan cichlids (Mayaheros uruphthalmus), and the three other large 'top predator' fishes (Amia calva, Lepisosteus platyrhincus, Micropterus salmoides) is included for plots where electrofishing was performed from 1997-2021. Hydrologic measures used in analyses are included.

openCC (other)Mar 2022View details →

Counts of potential nest predators from Black-throated Blue Warbler territories, Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, 1997 – 2019

This dataset provides counts of potential nest predators recorded on surveys conducted in black-throated blue warbler territories at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. Surveys occurred on three gridded study plots at the HBEF: low elevation (250-350 m; 85 ha), middle elevation (450-600 m; 65 ha), and high elevation (750-850 m; 35 ha). See Rodenhouse et al. 2003 for plot details. These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2020View details →

Trophic cascade driven by behavioural fine-tuning as naïve prey rapidly adjust to a novel predator

The arrival of novel predators can trigger trophic cascades driven by shifts in prey numbers. Predators also elicit behavioural change in prey populations, via phenotypic plasticity and/or rapid evolution, and such changes may also contribute to trophic cascades. Here we document rapid demographic and behavioural changes in populations of a prey species (grassland melomys Melomys burtoni, a granivorous rodent) following the introduction of a novel marsupial predator (northern quoll Dasyurus hallucatus). Within months of quolls appearing, populations of melomys exhibited reduced survival and population declines relative to control populations. Quoll-invaded populations (n = 4) were also significantly shyer than nearby, quoll-free populations (n = 3) of conspecifics. This rapid but generalised response to a novel threat was replaced over the following two years with more threat-specific antipredator behaviours (i.e. predator-scent aversion). Predator-exposed populations, however, remained more neophobic than predator-free populations throughout the study. These behavioural responses manifested rapidly in changed rates of seed predation by melomys across treatments. Quoll-invaded melomys populations exhibited lower per-capita seed take rates, and rapidly developed an avoidance of seeds associated with quoll scent, with discrimination playing out over a spatial scale of tens of metres. Presumably the significant and novel predation pressure induced by quolls drove melomys populations to fine-tune behavioural responses to be more predator-specific through time. These behavioural shifts could reflect individual plasticity (phenotypic flexibility) in behaviour or may be adaptive shifts from natural selection imposed by quoll predation. Our study provides a rare insight into the rapid ecological and behavioural shifts enacted by prey to mitigate the impacts of a novel predator and shows that trophic cascades can be strongly influenced by behavioural as well as numerical responses.

opencc-by-4.0Feb 2025View details →

Supplementary materials for: How effective are insect aposematism and Batesian mimicry in deterring a wild avian predator?

<a name="_Hlk180513890"></a>Acoustic_parameters_10cm.txt Acoustic parameters of the sounds produced by insects in flight, species recorded at 10 cm from the microphone. Acoustic_parameters_5cm.txt Acoustic parameters of the sounds produced by insects in flight, species recorded at 5 cm from the microphone. Robin_behaviours.txt Erithacus rubecula reactions measured in Boris software from videos of behavioural experiments. Rscript_robin_behaviours.R R script used for the analysis of robins’ behaviours (using Robin_behaviours.txt). Rscript_acoustical_analyses.R R script used for the analysis of acoustical parameters of insect buzzing sounds (using Acoustic_parameters_10cm.txt and Acoustic_parameters_5cm.txt). Robin_experiment_video.mp4 Behavioural experiment with a wild European robin (Erithacus rubecula) in its habitat. A freshly defrosted insect specimen and the corresponding buzzing sound of each recorded hymenopteran model and lepidopteran mimic (plus a housefly as a control) were presented in random order to the robin at a feeder with Tenebrio molitor larvae. Robin_experiment_video_Metadata.docx Metadata for the supplementary video Robin_experiment_video.mp4.

opencc-by-4.0Apr 2024View details →

Dataset for "Large scale patterns and drivers of the diving behavior of gill-breathing large pelagic predators"

This dataset includes all supporting data and scritps to generate figure panels in the paper "Large scale patterns and drivers of the diving behavior of gill-breathing large pelagic predators" (A. Nuno, J. Guiet, B. Baranek and D. Bianchi)

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2022View details →

Root symbionts alter the volatile profile of herbivore-infested tomato plants and aid the attraction of a predator

Beneficial root microbes are among the most frequently used biocontrol agents in cropping systems, since they have been shown to promote plant growth and crop yield. Moreover, they are able to enhance protection against pathogens and insect herbivores by activating plant resistance mechanisms. Plant defense responses against herbivorous insects include the induction of metabolic pathways involved in the synthesis of defense-related metabolites. These metabolites include volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which attract natural enemies of the herbivores as a form of indirect resistance. Considering that beneficial root microbes may affect direct herbivore resistance, we hypothesized that also indirect resistance may be affected. We tested this hypothesis in a study system composed of tomato, the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis, the growth-promoting fungus Trichoderma harzianum, the generalist chewing herbivore Spodoptera exigua and the omnivorous predator Macrolophus pygmaeus. Using a Y-tube olfactometer we found that M. pygmaeus preferred plants with S. exigua herbivory, but microbe-inoculated plants more than non-inoculated ones. We used a targeted GC-MS approach to assess the impact of beneficial microbes on the emission of volatiles twenty-four hours after herbivory to explain the choice of M. pygmaeus. We observed that the volatile composition of the herbivore-infested plants differed from that of the non-infested plants, which was driven by the higher emission of green leaf volatile compounds, methyl salicylate, and several monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. Inoculation with microbes had only a marginal effect on the emission of some terpenoids in our experiment. Gene expression analysis showed that the marker genes involved in the jasmonic and salicylic acid pathways were differentially expressed in the microbe-inoculated plants after herbivory. Our results pinpoint the role of root symbionts in determining plant-microbe-insect interactions up to the third trophic level, and elucidates their potential to be used in plant protection.

opencc-by-4.0Sep 2022View details →

Data from: Accounting for predator species identity reveals variable relationships between nest predation rate and habitat in a temperate forest songbird

Abstract Nest predation is the primary cause of nest failure in most ground-nesting bird species. Investigations of relationships between nest predation rate and habitat usually pool different predator species. However, such relationships likely depend on the specific predator involved, partly because habitat requirements vary among predator species. Pooling may therefore impair our ability to identify conservation-relevant relationships between nest predation rate and habitat. We investigated predator-specific nest predation rates in the forest-dependent, ground-nesting wood warbler Phylloscopus sibilatrix in relation to forest area and forest edge complexity at two spatial scales, and to the composition of the adjacent habitat matrix. We used camera traps at 559 nests to identify nest predators in five study regions across Europe. When analysing predation data pooled across predator species, nest predation rate was positively related to forest area at the local scale (1,000 m around nest), and higher where proportion of grassland in the adjacent habitat matrix was high but arable land low. Analyses by each predator species revealed variable relationships between nest predation rates and habitat. At the local scale, nest predation by most predators was higher where forest area was large. At the landscape scale (10,000 m around nest), nest predation by buzzards Buteo buteo was high where forest area was small. Predation by pine martens Martes martes was high where edge complexity at the landscape scale was high. Predation by badgers Meles meles was high where the matrix had much grassland but little arable land. Our results suggest that relationships between nest predation rates and habitat can depend on the predator species involved and may differ from analyses disregarding predator identity. Predator-specific nest predation rates, and their relationships to habitat at different spatial scales, should be considered when assessing the impact of habitat change on avian nesting success.

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2022View details →

Data from: Predation of wood mice (Apodemus sylvaticus) on hibernating bats

In order to protect hibernating bats effectively, more knowledge about mortality factors is needed. This study proved the wood mouse (Apodemus sylvaticus) actively predates on bats. Fresh remains made by the wood mouse can be identified due to a typical pattern of lesions. This study was conducted in the province of Zuid-Holland, between the cities of Den Haag (The Hague), Leiden and the town of Wassenaar (between 52-070 and 52-090N, 4-180 and 4-210E). During a preliminary investigation with a trail camera, we were able to prove that wood mice actively searched for prey. Thereafter, remains of partially eaten bats have been collected and inspected in the laboratory. Bats which had not died of predation were excluded from the analysis. The remains that we found showed the typical pattern of lesions attributable to predation by wood mice. The skin of the victims is scraped clean. In the process of eating all the soft tissue, the skin is turned inside out, including the skin around the skull and hind legs. We found a total of 214 remains of predated bats during the 12 years. The resulting data are presented in this dataset.   Files Distance to entrance Status: status of observation, this is a filter for fresh remains. Date: date of the observation of the remains. Note: observations were made each 2 weeks, not necessarily the date of death. Species: fresh remains of what bat species Location: name of hibernacula, location of observation N of animals: number of fresh remains Distance: distance to the exit (in meters)   Oak and predation Winter: the period between September and April is defined as the winter of the year starting in January Predation: N of fresh remains found in one winter Cumulative N of bats: The cumulative population, based on the maximum population size of each site. Mast production of the common oak (kg): kg of acorns. We used annual data on the seed production of common oak collected by the ‘Vereniging Wildbeheer Veluwe’ in the province of Gelderland as a measure for the availability of acorns in our study area.   Predation and winter population Winter: the period between September and April is defined as the winter of the year starting in January Predation: the Number of predated bats Max N: the maximum population size Location: the hibernacula

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2024View details →

CarniTraits: Functional traits of the worlds Late Quaternary terrestrial mammalian predators

CarniTraits, a comprehensive functional trait database of all late Quaternary (~130,000 ybp) terrestrial mammalian carnivore species (149 species, >1kg body mass). The database contains the body mass, diet, locomotion, cooperative hunting, hunting habitat, hunting method, bone use, and hunting temporal activity patterns of all carnivores over the last ~130,000 years. We also include the IUCN status for all extant species and ground the database in a modern phylogeny and is thus compatible and easily interlinked with range maps published in PHYLACINE v1.2.1. CarniTraits is broadly applicable to assisting in local and macroecological studies, meta-analytic research, global syntheses, and paleoecological research. CarniTraits includes data on: <ul> <li>Body Mass</li> <li>Diet</li> <li>Scavenging behaviour</li> <li>Bone Consumption</li> <li>Locomotion</li> <li>Cooperative hunting</li> <li>Hunting habitat</li> <li>Hunting method</li> <li>Hunting time</li> <li>Brain mass</li> <li>Encephalisation Quotient</li> </ul> Each of these traits is fundamental to the ecological impact that carnivores have on terrestrial ecosystems. Trait data compiled represents the best available knowledge on the functional traits of late Quaternary hypercarnivorous mammals. As such, CarniTraits provides a tool for the analysis of carnivore functional diversity both past and present, as well as their effects on ecosystem dynamics. Each trait is accompanied by columns that describes the confidence in the data (notes), whether it was inferred and what level it was inferred from and the reference that the data was collected from.

openmit-licenseMar 2018View details →

Data and Statistical analysis for: "Predator in the pool? A quantitative evaluation of non-indexed open access journals in aquaculture research"

Data and Statistical analysis for: "Predator in the pool? A quantitative evaluation of non-indexed open access journals in aquaculture research" published in Frontiers in Marine Science

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2019View details →

Raw data for: "Altered trophic interactions in warming climates: consequences for predator diet breadth and fitness"

Raw data for the article: Bestion, E, Soriano-Redondo, A,  Cucherousset, J, Jacob, S,  White, J,  Zinger, L,  Fourtune, L,  Di Gesu, L, Teyssier, A, Cote, J. Altered trophic interactions in warming climates: consequences for predator diet breadth and fitness. Proceedings of the Royal Society: B. 2019. 286:20192227. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2019.2227 This data should be cited as: Bestion, E, Soriano-Redondo, A,  Cucherousset, J, Jacob, S,  White, J,  Zinger, L,  Fourtune, L,  Di Gesu, L, Teyssier, A, Cote, J (2019). Raw data for: "Altered trophic interactions in warming climates: consequences for predator diet breadth and fitness", Bestion et al 2019 Proceedings B. (Version 1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3475402 This data is composed of one dataset with 21 columns and a README file Composition of the Bestion_2019_isotopy_dataset_for_zenodo.csv dataset - Individual: numerical index corresponding to each of the 327 individuals in the dataset - Age: age class, J = juvenile (<1 year old), A = adult (1 and 2+ year old) - Sex: F (female) or M (male) - Climate: Present-day climate or Warm climate - Enclosure: enclosure number (10 enclosures, 5 per climatic treatment) - delta13C_september: stable isotope values for delta13C in september - delta15N_september: stable isotope values for delta15N in september - delta13C_september_corrected: stable isotope values for delta13C in september corrected for the stable isotope value of the three invertebrate prey categories - delta15N_september_corrected: stable isotope values for delta15N in september corrected for the stable isotope value of the three invertebrate prey categories - Prop_predator_eaten: proportion of predatory invertebrates eaten by each individual derived from the corrected stable isotope values - Prop_phytophagous_eaten: proportion of phytophagous invertebrates eaten by each individual derived from the corrected stable isotope values - Prop_detritivorous_eaten: proportion of detritivorous invertebrates eaten by each individual derived from the corrected stable isotope values - Levins_diet_index: levins' dietary index corresponding to lizard diet specialization (with 3 = completely generalist and 1 = completely specialist lizard) - Body_Size_september: lizard body size (snout-vent length in mm) - Body_Mass_september: lizard body mass (in g) - Body_Condition_september: lizard body condition (residuals of body mass by body size) - Microbiota_shannon_index: shannon index representing gut microbial bacteria community diversity - Survival_winter: survival during the winter (1 = survived, 0 = died) - Abundance_predator_enclosure: abundance of predatory invertebrates within the enclosure - Abundance_phytophagous_enclosure: abundance of phytophagous invertebrates within the enclosure - Abundance_detitivorous_enclosure: abundance of detritivorous invertebrates within the enclosure

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2024View details →

Ferry et al. 2024 - Prey that is attractive but not repelled by predators suggests an asymmetric investment in the encounter-avoid-escape sequence. - R Code and Datasets

R code for formating data and running PAMMs for all different combinations of predator-prey. Data of camera trap observation. Data of environmental variable associated to camera trap sites.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2022View details →

Data from: Shifts in ground-dwelling predator communities in response to changes in management intensity in Alpine meadows

Here, we provide raw abundance data from a small-scale case study on the effects of management intensity on ground-dwelling macro-invertebrate communities in extensively and intensively managed hay meadows in South Tyrol, Italy. The fauna was sampled with the pitfall trap methods in two seasons (autumn 2018 and spring 2019). The predatory groups Araneae, Opiliones, Carabidae, Staphylinidae, and Formicidae were identified to species level, the rest – where possible – to family level. The data can be found as absolute numbers (i.e., individuals per pitfall trap) and as standardised numbers (i.e., individuals per sampling day). Additionally, we provide ecological species traits on rarity (for the area of South Tyrol), moisture requirements and ecological tolerance, as well as the Red List statuses.