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53 results for “predator defense”
FIGURE 1 in Attack and defense in a gamasid-oribatid mite predator-prey experiment - sclerotization outperforms chemical repellency
FIGURE 1: Consumption [%] of the predatory mite Stratiolaelaps miles feeding on differently treated adults and tritonymphs of Archegozetes longisetosus (armed= control group; disarmed= hexane treated specimens). Stars indicate significant differences (Mann-Whitney-U-test, ***p<0.001).
FIGURE 2 in Attack and defense in a gamasid-oribatid mite predator-prey experiment - sclerotization outperforms chemical repellency
FIGURE 2: Normalized amount of defensive secretion of attacked and control group Archegozetes longisetosus. Stars indicate significant differences (Mann-Whitney-U-test, ***p<0.001).
Data for: Sex matters: Predator presence induces sexual dimorphism in a monomorphic prey, from stress genes to morphological defenses
<p>Inducible defences allow prey to increase survival chances when predators are present while avoiding unnecessary costs in their absence. Many studies report considerable inter-individual variation in inducible-defence expression, yet what underlies this variation is poorly understood. A classic vertebrate example of a predator‐induced morphological defence is the increased body depth in crucian carp (<em>Carassius carassius</em>), which reduces the risk of predation from gape‐size limited predators. Here, we report that among-individual variation in morphological defence expression can be linked to sex. We documented sexual dimorphism in lakes in which crucian carp coexisted with predators, where females showed shallower relative body depths than males, but not in a predator-free lake. When exposing crucian carp from a population without predators to perceived predation risk in a laboratory environment (presence/absence of pike, <em>Esox lucius</em>), we found that males expressed significantly greater morphological defence than females, causing sexual dimorphism only in the presence of predators. We uncovered a correlative link between the sex-specific <em>inducible phenotypic </em>response and gene expression patterns in major stress-related genes (<em>POMC</em>,<em> MC3R</em>,<em> MC4R</em>). Together, our results highlight that sex-specific responses may be an important, yet underappreciated, component underlying inter-individual differences in the expression of inducible defences, even in species without pronounced sexual dimorphism. </p>
Navigating the landscape of fear: Fruit flies exhibit distinct anti-predator and anti-parasite defensive behaviours
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Hemipteran defensive odors trigger predictable color biases in jumping spider predators
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Data from: Anti-predator defenses are linked with high levels of genetic differentiation in frogs
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Trophic cascade within and across ecosystems: the role of anti-predatory defenses, predator type, and detritus quality
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Data from: Enhanced seed defenses potentially relax selection by seed predators against serotiny in lodgepole pine
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Data from: Defense against predators incurs high reproductive costs for the aposematic moth Arctia plantaginis
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Cheating death: Selection on digestive physiology overcomes expected growth costs of anti-predator defenses
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Data from: Induced phenological avoidance: a neglected defense mechanism against seed predation in plants
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Data for: Sex matters: Predator presence induces sexual dimorphism in a monomorphic prey, from stress genes to morphological defenses
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Data from: Salicylate plant defenses reduce aphid nutritional quality and increase predator consumption
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Calcareous defense structures of prey mediate the effects of predation and biotic resistance towards the tropics
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Aims</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>The importance of biotic interactions in creating and maintaining diversity is expected to increase toward low latitudes. However, the way in which predation affects diversity, can depend on how predators mediate competitive interactions and also on defensive traits of prey. Here we assessed the role of physical defences of prey to escape predation and how the importance of predation on community structure and diversity changes across latitude.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Location</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Six sites, in three regions distributed across 45 degrees of latitude in the Atlantic Ocean: a tropical region in Angola, a subtropical region in Brazil and a temperate region in Wales-UK.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Methods</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>We manipulated predation on marine sessile communities, using exclusion cages and assessed community parameters, including their susceptibility to biological invasion during early and advanced succession.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Results</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Predation was more intense in the tropics and in advanced communities suggesting that predation effects increase through time. In the tropical region, predators reduced the number of co-occurring species and beta diversity, limited the occurrence of exotic species and promoted a change in the identity of the dominant organisms, replacing soft-bodied organisms with calcified animals. In the subtropical region, predation promoted a similar trait-mediated change in the identity of dominant prey, although it was not strong enough to affect diversity and did not prevent bioinvasion. In the temperate region other processes than predation seem to drive the community organization and resistance to invasion.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Main conclusions</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Our results support both Biotic Interaction and Biotic Resistance Hypotheses, showing that the importance of predation to biodiversity increases toward the tropics. In addition, where predation is intense, morphological traits of prey drive the final structure and dominance in the community. Our results suggest that physical defences are the main traits preventing predation, perhaps explaining why calcified organisms are among the most common invasive species in coastal habitats.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Gape-limited predators as agents of selection on the defensive morphology of an invasive invertebrate
Invasive species have widespread and pronounced effects on ecosystems and adaptive evolution of invaders is often considered responsible for their success. Despite the potential importance of adaptation to invasion, we still have limited knowledge of the agents of natural selection on invasive species. Bythotrephes longimanus, a cladoceran zooplankton, invaded multiple Canadian Shield lakes over the past several decades. Bythotrephes have a conspicuous caudal process (tail spine) that provides a morphological defense against fish predation. We measured viability selection on the longest component of the Bythotrephes spine, the distal spine segment, through a comparison of the lengths of first and second instar Bythotrephes collected from lakes differing in the dominance of gape-limited predation (GLP) and non-gape-limited predation (NGLP) by fish. We found that natural selection varied by predator gape-limitation, with strong selection (selection intensity: 0.20-0.79) for increased distal spine length in lakes dominated by GLP, and no significant selection in lakes dominated by NGLP. Further, distal spine length was 17% longer in lakes dominated by GLP, suggesting the possibility of local adaptation. As all study lakes were invaded less than twenty years prior to our collections, our results suggest rapid divergence in defensive morphology in response to selection from fish predators.
Trade-offs between defense and competitive traits in a planktonic predator-prey system
<p>Data repository from the paper "Trade-offs between defense and competitive traits in a planktonic predator-prey system" by Réveillon T. and Becks L. published in the journal Ecology.</p>
Predator community and resource use jointly modulate the inducible defense response in body height of crucian carp
<p>Phenotypic plasticity can be expressed as changes in body shape in response to environmental variability. Crucian carp (<i>Carassius carassius</i>), a widespread cyprinid, displays remarkable plasticity in body morphology and increases body depth when exposed to cues from predators, suggesting the triggering of an anti-predator defense mechanism. However, these morphological changes could also be related to resource use and foraging behavior, as an indirect effect of predator presence. In order to determine whether phenotypic plasticity in crucian carp is driven by a direct or indirect response to predation threat, we compared twelve fish communities inhabiting small lakes in southeast Norway grouped by four categories of predation regimes: no predator fish, or brown trout (<i>Salmo trutta</i>), perch (<i>Perca fluviatilis</i>) or pike (<i>Esox lucius</i>) as main piscivores. We predicted the body shape of crucian carp to be associated with the species composition of predator communities, and that the presence of efficient piscivores results in a deeper body shape. We use stable isotope analyses to test if this variation in body shape was related to a shift in individual resource use – i.e., littoral rather than pelagic resource use would favor the development of a specific body shape - or other environmental characteristics. The results showed that increasingly efficient predator communities induced progressively deeper body shape, larger body size and lower population densities. Predator maximum gape size and individual trophic position were the best variables explaining crucian carp variation in body depth among predation categories, while littoral resource use did not have a clear effect. The gradient in predation pressure also corresponded to a shift in lake productivity. These results indicate that crucian carp have a fine-tuned morphological defense mechanism against predation risk, triggered by the combined effect of predator presence and resource availability.</p>
Sequestration of defenses against predators drives specialized host plant associations in preadapted milkweed bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae)
<p class="CxSpFirst">Host plant specialization across herbivorous insects varies dramatically, but while the molecular mechanisms of host-plant adaptations are increasingly known, we often lack a comprehensive understanding of the selective forces that favor specialization. The milkweed bugs (Heteroptera: Lygaeinae) are engaged in ancestrally specialized associations with plants of the Apocynaceae from which they commonly sequester cardiac glycosides for defense, facilitated by resistant Na<sup>+</sup>/K<sup>+</sup>-ATPases and adaptations for transport, storage and discharge of toxins. Here, we show that three Lygaeinae species independently colonized four novel non-apocynaceous hosts that convergently produce cardiac glycosides. A fourth species shifted to a new source of toxins by tolerating and sequestering alkaloids from meadow saffron (<i>Colchicum autumnale</i>, Colchicaceae). Across three milkweed bug species tested, feeding on seeds containing toxins did not improve growth or speed of development, and even impaired growth and development in two species, but sequestration mediated protection of milkweed bugs against two natural predators: lacewing larvae and passerine birds. We conclude that physiological preadaptations and convergent phytochemistry facilitated novel specialized host associations. Since toxic seeds did not improve but either impaired growth or at most had neutral effects, selection by predators on sequestration of defenses, rather than the exploitation of additional profitable dietary resources, can lead to obligatory specialized host associations in otherwise generalist insects.</p>
Predator defense is shaped by risk, brood value and social group benefits in a cooperative breeder
<p><span>Predation is a major cause of mortality and nest failure in birds. Cooperative predator defense can enhance nest success and adult survival, but since it is inherently risky, dynamic risk assessment theory predicts that individuals modify defense behavior according to risk posed by the predator. Parental investment theory on the other hand predicts that reproductive payoffs (brood value) determine investment in nest defense. We propose that in cooperative breeders, fitness benefits deriving from survival of other group members may additionally influence defense behavior (social group benefits theory). We tested predictions of these theories in the cooperatively breeding purple-crowned fairy-wren, <i>Malurus coronatus</i>, where brood value is higher for breeders, but social group benefits more important for helpers. We recorded experimentally-induced individual defense behaviors in response to predator models presented near nests, representing differing levels of threat to nests and adults. As predicted, (i) individuals engaged in less risky defenses when encountering a more dangerous predator (dynamic risk assessment theory); (ii) individuals defended older broods more often, and breeders defended more than helpers (parental investment theory); and (iii) helpers were more likely to respond to a predator of adults (social group benefits theory). Our findings highlight that predator defense in cooperative breeders is complex, shaped by the combination of immediate risk and multiple benefits.</span></p>
Chemical defense acquired via pharmacophagy can lead to protection from predation for conspecifics in a sawfly
<p>Predation is an important selection pressure acting on organisms, with organisms evolving diverse anti-predator strategies to combat it. One such strategy is chemical defense in which organisms either synthesize or extrinsically acquire defensive chemicals. Little is known about the intraspecific transfer of such chemicals and if such chemicals acquired from conspecifics can also serve as defense against predation. Here, we used adults of the turnip sawfly, <em>Athalia rosae</em>, which can acquire the plant chemicals 'clerodanoids' via pharmacophagy after exposure to the plant, <em>Ajuga reptans</em><em>. </em>We show that clerodanoid access mediates protection against predation by mantids for the sawflies. Moreover, even indirect access to clerodanoids, via nibbling on conspecifics that had access to the plant, resulted in protection against predation albeit to a lower degree than direct access. Furthermore, sawflies that had no direct access to clerodanoids were less consumed by mantids when they were grouped with conspecifics that had direct access. Most of such initially undefended sawflies could acquire clerodanoids from conspecifics that had direct access to the plant, although in low quantities. Together our results demonstrate that clerodanoids serve as chemical defense that can be intraspecifically transferred. Moreover, the presence of chemically defended individuals in a group can confer protection onto conspecifics that had no direct access to clerodanoids, suggesting a 'herd-protection' effect.</p>
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