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112 results for “predator ecology”
Data from: Experimentally simulating the evolution-to-ecology connection: Divergent predator morphologies alter natural food webs
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Introduced wild pigs affect the foraging ecology of a native predator as both prey and scavenger
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Data from: Ecological and behavioral determinants of sex-biased predation of katydid prey by a bat predator
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Data for: The visual ecology of selective predation: Are unhealthy hosts less stealthy hosts?
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Data from: Live fast, die young: Life history traits of an apex predator exacerbate the ecological impact of a toxic invader
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Data from: Benefit or ecological trap? Monitoring the effects of small clear-cuts on capercaillie Tetrao urogallus and its mammalian predators
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Data from: The ecology and evolution of seed predation by Darwin's finches on Tribulus cistoides on the Galápagos Islands
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Data from: Africa’s overlooked top predator: towards a better understanding of martial eagle feeding ecology in the Maasai Mara, Kenya
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Data from: Ecological speciation in European whitefish is driven by a large‐gaped predator
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Rain, recreation, and risk: Human activity and ecological disturbance create seasonal risk landscapes for the prey of an ambush predator
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Figure 6. Feeding variation during ENSO phenomenon. a in Life is uncertainı eat dessert first: feeding ecology and prey-predator interactions of the coffee snake Ninia atrata
Figure 6. Feeding variation during ENSO phenomenon. a) Linear regression models that relate the number of snakes with stomach content and prey abundance at microhabitats per sampling visit (n = 32). b) t-Test comparing the abundance of snakes with stomach content (n = 314) between good and bad climate years. Box represents the interquartile range, the line across the box indicates the median, the minimal and maximal values are provided with the whiskers.
Figure 4 in Life is uncertainı eat dessert first: feeding ecology and prey-predator interactions of the coffee snake Ninia atrata
Figure 4. Patterns of food intake, fat storage, and body size between sexes. a) The density of individuals with stomach contents tends to increase constantly with the increment of the body size in males. In contrast, the number of females with stomach contents start to grow nearly when their reached size of sexual maturity (>270 mm), before it, females maintain almost the same number of individuals with stomach contents despite their increase in body size (n = 264). b) Fat body area increase with the increment of the body size, being higher in females than males (n = 170). Redline depicts sexual maturity size in females.
Figure 3 in Life is uncertainı eat dessert first: feeding ecology and prey-predator interactions of the coffee snake Ninia atrata
Figure 3. Sexual dimorphism of Ninia atrata. a) Linear regression model of weight versus snout-vent length (SVL) depicting no-significative differences between sexes (n = 425). b) ANCOVA analysis depicting that males have longer heads than females in relation to their weight (n = 170).
Figure 1 in Life is uncertainı eat dessert first: feeding ecology and prey-predator interactions of the coffee snake Ninia atrata
Figure 1. Study area. Oil palm plantation (Elaeis guineensis Jacq 1897) of PALMASOL S.A. Red polygons represent the production batches sampled. Snakes collected from batches 8, 9 and 15 were fixed to perform dissections of their digestive tracts. Snakes from the Batch 13 were employed in the mark-recapture experiments.
Maladaptive migration behaviour in hybrids links to predator-mediated ecological selection
<p>1. Different migratory species have evolved distinct migratory characteristics that improve fitness in their particular ecological niches. However, when such species hybridize, migratory traits from parental species can combine maladaptively and cause hybrids to fall between parental fitness peaks, with potential consequences for hybrid viability and species integrity. 2. Here, we take advantage of a natural cross-breeding incident to study migratory behaviour in naturally occurring hybrids as well as in their parental species and explore links between migratory traits and predation risk. 3. To achieve this, we used electronic tags and passive telemetry to record detailed individual migration patterns (timing and number of migratory trips) in two common freshwater fish species, roach (Rutilus rutilus), common bream (Abramis brama) as well as their hybrids. Next, we scanned for tags regurgitated by a key avian predator (great cormorant, Phalacrocorax carbo) at nearby roosting sites, allowing us to directly link migratory behaviour to predation risk in the wild. 4. We found that hybrid individuals showed a higher number of short, multi-trip movements between lake and stream habitats as compared to both parental species. The mean date of first lake departure differed between bream and roach by more than 10 days, while hybrids departed in two distinct peaks that overlapped with the parental species' averages. Moreover, the probability of cormorant predation increased with multi-trip movement frequency across species and was higher for hybrids. 5. Our data provide novel insights into hybrid viability, with links to predator-mediated ecological selection. Increased exposure to predators via maladaptive migratory behaviour reduces hybrid survival and can thereby reinforce species integrity.</p>
Data from: Ecological effects on metabolic scaling amphipod responses to fish predators in freshwater springs
Metabolic rate is commonly thought to scale with body mass to the 3/4-power as a result of universal body-design constraints. However, recent comparative work has shown that the metabolic scaling slope may vary significantly among species and higher taxa, apparently in response to different lifestyles and ecological conditions, though the precise mechanisms involved are not well understood. To better understand these under-appreciated ecological effects and their causes, it is important to control for extraneous phylogenetic and environmental influences. We demonstrate how this may be done by comparing the ontogenetic scaling of resting metabolic rate among populations of the same species (the amphipod Gammarus minus) in mid-Appalachian freshwater springs with similar, relatively constant environmental conditions, except for the varying presence of the predatory fish Cottus cognatus. We found that populations of G. minus exhibit significantly lower metabolic scaling slopes (0.54 to 0.62) in three freshwater springs with C. cognatus than in two springs without these fish (0.76 to 0.77). We tested multiple hypothetical causes for these population differences. Our results best supported the hypothesis that metabolic scaling was influenced by the effects of size-selective predation on the ontogeny of growth, a metabolically expensive process. The body-size scaling of growth is significantly less steep in the populations inhabiting springs with versus without fish, thus paralleling the interpopulation differences in metabolic scaling. Prematurational growth of G. minus is as high or higher in the fish springs, whereas postmaturational growth is significantly lower, often approaching zero. Similarly the amphipods in the fish springs tend to have higher metabolic rates at small sizes, but lower metabolic rates at large sizes, compared to those in the fishless springs. Our results do not support other hypothetical causes of the interpopulation variation in metabolic scaling, including differential scaling of cell size or low-metabolism body components (fat and mineralized exoskeleton), or possible effects of other environmental factors associated with the presence of fish. However, fish-induced population differences in adult behavioral activity may influence metabolic scaling in G. minus, a possibility under current study. We conclude that ecological factors may significantly influence metabolic scaling, contrary to common belief.
Data from: Incorporating disturbance into trophic ecology: fire history shapes mesopredator suppression by an apex predator
1.Apex predators can suppress smaller bodied 'mesopredators'. In doing so, they can provide refuge to species preyed upon by mesopredators, which is particularly important in regions where mesopredators are invasive. While most studies of mesopredator suppression focus on the response of mesopredators to human control of apex predators, other factors –including natural and anthropogenic disturbance – also drive the occurrence of apex predators and, in doing so, might shape spatial patterns of mesopredator suppression. 2.We examined the role of fire in shaping the occurrence of an apex predator and, by extension, mesopredators and small mammals in a fire-prone region of semi-arid Australia. We measured the activity of an apex predator (the dingo, Canis dingo); an invasive mesopredator it is known to suppress, the red fox (Vuples vuples); and two species of native small mammal (Mitchell's hopping mouse, Notomys mitchelli; silky mouse, Pseudomys apodemoides) that are potential prey, across 21 fire mosaics (each 12.56 km2). We used piecewise structural equation modelling and scenario analysis to explore the interactions between fire, predators and prey. 3.We found that dingoes were affected by fire history at the landscape scale, showing a preference for recently burned areas. While foxes were not directly affected by fire history, a negative association between dingoes and foxes meant that fire had an indirect impact on foxes, mediated through dingoes. Despite the suppression of foxes by dingoes, we did not observe a trophic cascade as small mammals were not negatively associated with foxes or positively associated with dingoes. 4.Synthesis and applications. Disturbance regimes have the capacity to shape patterns of mesopredator suppression when they alter the distributions of apex predators. Environmental change that promotes native predators can therefore help suppress mesopredators – a common conservation objective in regions with invasive mesopredators. The indirect consequences of disturbance regimes should be considered when managing disturbance (e.g. fire) for biodiversity conservation.
Data from: Scale-dependent foraging ecology of a marine top predator modelled using passive acoustic data
1. Understanding which environmental factors drive foraging preferences is critical for the development of effective management measures, but resource use patterns may emerge from processes that occur at different spatial and temporal scales. Direct observations of foraging are also especially challenging in marine predators, but passive acoustic techniques provide opportunities to study the behavior of echolocating species over a range of scales. 2. We used an extensive passive acoustic dataset to investigate the distribution and temporal dynamics of foraging in bottlenose dolphins using the Moray Firth (Scotland, UK). Echolocation buzzes were identified with a mixture model of detected echolocation inter-click intervals, and used as a proxy of foraging activity. A robust modelling approach accounting for autocorrelation in the data was then used to evaluate which environmental factors were associated with the observed dynamics at two different spatial and temporal scales. 3. At a broad scale, foraging varied seasonally, and was also affected by sea-bed slope and shelf-sea fronts. At a finer scale, we identified variation in seasonal use and local interactions with tidal processes. Foraging was best predicted at a daily scale, accounting for site-specificity in the shape of the estimated relationships. 4. This study demonstrates how passive acoustic data can be used to understand foraging ecology in echolocating species, and provides a robust analytical procedure for describing spatio-temporal patterns. Associations between foraging and environmental characteristics varied according to spatial and temporal scale, highlighting the need for a multi-scale approach. Our results indicate that dolphins respond to coarser-scale temporal dynamics, but have a detailed understanding of finer-scale spatial distribution of resources.
Data from: Ecological opportunities and specializations shaped genetic divergence in a highly mobile marine top predator
Environmental conditions can shape genetic and morphological divergence. Release of new habitats during historical environmental changes was a major driver of evolutionary diversification. Here, forces shaping population structure and ecotype differentiation ('pelagic' and 'coastal') of bottlenose dolphins in the North-east Atlantic were investigated using complementary evolutionary and ecological approaches. Inference of population demographic history using approximate Bayesian computation indicated that coastal populations were likely founded by the Atlantic pelagic population after the Last Glacial Maxima probably as a result of newly available coastal ecological niches. Pelagic dolphins from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea likely diverged during a period of high productivity in the Mediterranean Sea. Genetic differentiation between coastal and pelagic ecotypes may be maintained by niche specializations, as indicated by stable isotope and stomach content analyses, and social behaviour. The two ecotypes were only weakly morphologically segregated in contrast to other parts of the World Ocean. This may be linked to weak contrasts between coastal and pelagic habitats and/or a relatively recent divergence. We suggest that ecological opportunity to specialize is a major driver of genetic and morphological divergence. Combining genetic, ecological and morphological approaches is essential to understanding the population structure of mobile and cryptic species.
Data from: Latitudinal variation in ecological opportunity and intraspecific competition indicates differences in niche variability and diet specialization of Arctic marine predators
Individual specialization (IS), where individuals within populations irrespective of age, sex, and body size are either specialized or generalized in terms of resource use, has implications on ecological niches and food web structure. Niche size and degree of IS of near-top trophic-level marine predators have been little studied in polar regions or with latitude. We quantified the large-scale latitudinal variation of population- and individual-level niche size and IS in ringed seals (Pusa hispida) and beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis on 379 paired ringed seal liver and muscle samples and 124 paired beluga skin and muscle samples from eight locations ranging from the low to high Arctic. We characterized both within- and between-individual variation in predator niche size at each location as well as accounting for spatial differences in the isotopic ranges of potential prey. Total isotopic niche width (TINW) for populations of ringed seals and beluga decreased with increasing latitude. Higher TINW values were associated with greater ecological opportunity (i.e., prey diversity) in the prey fish community which mainly consists of Capelin (Mallotus villosus) and Sand lance (Ammodytes sp.) at lower latitudes and Arctic cod (Boreogadus saida) at high latitudes. In beluga, their dietary consistency between tissues also known as the within-individual component (WIC) increased in a near 1:1 ratio with TINW (slope = 0.84), suggesting dietary generalization, whereas the slope (0.18) of WIC relative to TINW in ringed seals indicated a high degree of individual specialization in ringed seal populations with higher TINWs. Our findings highlight the differences in TINW and level of IS for ringed seals and beluga relative to latitude as a likely response to large-scale spatial variation in ecological opportunity, suggesting species-specific variation in dietary plasticity to spatial differences in prey resources and environmental conditions in a rapidly changing ecosystem.
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Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.