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331 results for “predator effects”
Data from: Interactive effects of wildfires, season, and predator activity shape mule deer movements
<p>Wildfires are increasing in size, frequency, and severity due to climate change and fire suppression, but the direct and indirect effects on wildlife remain largely unresolved. Fire removes forest canopy, which can improve forage for ungulates but also reduce snow interception, leading to a deeper snowpack and potentially increased vulnerability to predation in winter. If ungulates exhibit predator-mediated foraging, burns should generally be selected for in summer to access high-quality forage and avoided in winter to reduce predation risk in deep snow. Fires also typically increase the amount of deadfall and initiate growth of dense understory vegetation, creating obstacles that may confer a hunting advantage to stalking predators and a disadvantage to coursing predators. To minimize risk, ungulates may therefore avoid burns when and where stalking predators are most active, and use burns when and where coursing predators are most active. We used telemetry data from GPS-collared mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), cougars (Puma concolor), and wolves (Canis lupus) to develop step selection functions to examine how mule deer navigated species-specific predation risk across a landscape in northern Washington, USA that has experienced substantial wildfire activity during the past several decades. We considered a diverse array of wildfire impacts, accounting for both the severity of the fire and time since the burn (1 to 35 years) in our analyses. We observed support for the predator mediating foraging hypothesis: mule deer generally selected for burned areas in summer and avoided burns in winter. In addition, deer increased use of burned areas when and where wolf activity was high and avoided burns when and where cougar use was high in winter, suggesting the hunting mode of resident predators mediated the seasonal response of deer to burns. Deer were not more likely to die by predation in burned than in unburned areas, indicating that they adequately manage fire-induced changes to predation risk. As fire activity increases with climate change, our findings indicate the impact on ungulates will depend on tradeoffs between enhanced summer forage and functionally reduced winter range, mediated by characteristics of the predator community.</p>
Fitness effects of symbiotic relationships among arthropod predators
<p>Symbiotic relationships shape ecological communities and often involve more than two species. Yet few experimental studies examine the impact of symbioses involving three species, particularly any mediating role of third parties, and none involving symbioses of predators.</p> <p>We investigated experimentally the synergistic and antagonistic fitness effects of three symbiotic spider predators across a broad latitudinal range and involving different species combinations.</p> <p>The three-dimensional web-complex of <em>Cyrtophora</em> spiders is a habitat patch to different associates – species of <em>Argyrodes</em> and web-building <em>Leucauge</em> spider guests. Our field experiments, which manipulated the presence of each guest species and determined the subsequent host weight change, revealed a remarkable consistency in fitness outcomes across the three populations, with the consequences of the interactions between two species depending upon the services provided by a third.</p> <p><em>Cyrtophora</em> hosts intercepted more prey when web-building <em>Leucauge</em> guests were present and thus gained more weight. In contrast, <em>Argyrodes</em> guests exerted a fitness cost on their <em>Cyrtophora</em> host, but only when <em>Leucauge</em> guests were absent. A comparison of the prey consumed by <em>Cyrtophora</em> hosts and <em>Argyrodes</em> guests revealed that their diets (reflected in the size of prey) overlapped less in the presence of <em>Leucauge</em> web-building guests.</p> <p>Our novel experimental study highlights the importance of exploring synergistic effects in multi-species symbioses.</p>
Data from: Evaluating consumptive and nonconsumptive predator effects on prey density using field times series data
Determining the degree to which predation affects prey abundance in natural communities constitutes a key goal of ecological research. Predators can affect prey through both consumptive effects (CEs) and nonconsumptive effects (NCEs), although the contributions of each mechanism to the density of prey populations remain largely hypothetical in most systems. Common statistical methods applied to time series data cannot elucidate the mechanisms responsible for hypothesized predator effects on prey density (e.g., differentiate CEs from NCEs), nor provide parameters for predictive models. State space models (SSMs) applied to time series data offer a way to meet these goals. Here, we employ SSMs to assess effects of an invasive predatory zooplankter, Bythotrephes longimanus, on an important prey species, Daphnia mendotae, in Lake Michigan. We fit mechanistic models in a SSM framework to seasonal time series (1994-2012) using a recently developed, maximum likelihood-based optimization method, iterated filtering, which can overcome challenges in ecological data (e.g. nonlinearities, measurement error, and irregular sampling intervals). Our results indicate that B. longimanus strongly influences D. mendotae dynamics, with mean annual peak densities of B. longimanus observed in Lake Michigan estimated to cause a 61% reduction in D. mendotae population growth rate and a 59% reduction in peak biomass density. Further, the mechanism underlying the B. longimanus effect is most consistent with an NCE via reduced birth rates. The SSM approach also provided estimates for key biological parameters (e.g., demographic rates) and the contribution of dynamic stochasticity and measurement error. Our study therefore highlights the utility of SSMs to enhance inference for species interactions from time series data. In particular, our findings provide evidence derived directly from survey data that the invasive zooplankter B. longimanus is affecting zooplankton demographics and offer parameter estimates needed to inform predictive models that explore the effect of B. longimanus under different scenarios such as climate change.
A common measure of prey immune function is not constrained by the cascading effects of predators
<p>Simultaneously defending against predators, stymieing competitors, and generating immune responses can impose conflicting demands for host species caught in the entanglement of a food web. Host immunity is not only shaped by direct interactions among species, but also many indirect cascading effects. By reducing competition, predators in particular can affect resource acquisition necessary for hosts to mount energetically costly immune responses. However, identifying the links between predators and host immune responses determined by resource acquisition is a complex affair, because predators can (i) reduce host density and thus competition among hosts, (ii) exert non-consumptive trait-mediated effects on host resource acquisition behavior, and (iii) generate natural selection on host resource acquisition behavior. To examine the relative contributions of these potential predator driven density- and trait-mediated effects on a key aspect of immune function (total phenoloxidase activity, total PO), we conducted mesocosm and field experiments with larval damselflies ( Enallagma signatum ) and their dominant fish predator ( Lepomis macrochirus ). Although we expected to observe declines in total PO activity with increases in damselfly density, we found no relationship between density and total PO activity. We also found no support for the prediction that total PO activity would vary as a result of either non-consumptive trait-mediated effects or selection on damselfly foraging activity underlying resource acquisition. Despite the lack of trait- or densitymediated effects, we did find that total PO activity increased with damselfly prey density among lakes, implying resource limitation for this aspect of immune function. These unexpected results point to the need to better understand the ecological conditions whereby predators and competitors constrain immune functions necessary for species to defend themselves in complex food webs.</p>
Predation, functional response and demographic parameters of Orius albidipennis (Hemiptera:Anthocoridae) on Schizaphis graminum (Hemiptera:Aphididae): effect of host plant morphological attributes
<p>Plant attributes like leaf hairiness and trichome compactness diversely affect the biocontrol agents of phytophagous insect pests. In the current study, effect of physical plant features on life table characteristics and functional response of <em>Orius albidipennis </em>(Rueter) females feeding on <em>Schizaphis graminum </em>(Rondani) was investigated on two common wheat cultivars (Falat and Pishtaz) differing in leaf morphological features. The trichome density of wheat cultivars considerably influenced a broad spectrum of attributes related to the performance of <em>O. albidipennis</em>. The intrinsic rate of increase (<em>rm</em>) was significantly greater on Falat (0.09±0.006) than on Pishtaz (0.06±0.008) cultivar. Similarly, the net reproductive rate and finite rate of increase were greater on Falat (16.72±3.38 and 1.083±7.54) than on Pishtaz (8.08±2.04 and 1.067±9.49). Although <em>Orius </em>predators exhibited type III of functional response on both wheat cultivars, they had lesser searching efficiencies and higher handling times on Pishtaz than those on Falat cultivar. Moreover, the maximum attack rate (<em>T</em>/<em>Th</em>) was greater on Falat than on Pishtaz. Lesser maximum predation and greater handling time of the <em>Orius </em>predators on Pishtaz cultivar might be imputed to the significantly more condensed surface trichomes of its leaves than that of Falat leaves, which physically prevented movement of the <em>Orius </em>bugs and decreased prey encounter rate. Moreover, increase of trichome density negatively influenced on foraging behavior of the predatory bug. Females were also found to prefer wheat leaves with fewer trichomes as oviposition hosts. It seems that trichomes provided hinderance to the <em>orius </em>bug. To recapitulate, it could be stated that the efficiency of <em>O. albidipennis </em>in controlling <em>S. graminum </em>on wheat may be more beneficial in cultivars with lower trichome density.</p>
Data from: Match and mismatch: integrating consumptive effects of predators, prey traits, and habitat selection in colonizing aquatic insects
<p>Predators are a particularly critical component of habitat quality, as they affect survival, morphology, behavior, population size, and community structure through both consumptive and non-consumptive effects. Non-consumptive effects can often exceed consumptive effects, but their relative importance is undetermined in many systems. Our objective was to determine the consumptive and non-consumptive effects of a predaceous aquatic insect, <em>Notonecta irrorata</em>, on colonizing aquatic beetles. We tested how <em>N. irrorata </em>affected survival and habitat selection of colonizing aquatic beetles, how beetle traits contributed to their vulnerability to predation by <em>N. irrorata,</em> and how combined consumptive and non-consumptive effects affected populations and community structure. Predation vulnerabilities ranged from 0–95% mortality, with size, swimming, and exoskeleton traits generating species-specific vulnerabilities. Habitat selection ranged from predator avoidance to preferentially colonizing predator patches. Attraction of Dytiscidae to <em>N. irrorata</em> may be a natural ecological trap given similar cues produced by these taxa. Hence, species-specific habitat selection by prey can be either predator-avoidance responses that reduce consumptive effects, or responses that magnify predator effects. <em>Notonecta irrorata</em> had both strong consumptive and non-consumptive effects on populations and communities, while combined effects predicted even more distinct communities and populations across patches with or without predators. Our results illustrate that an aquatic invertebrate predator can have functionally-unique consumptive effects on prey, attracting and repelling prey, while prey have functionally-unique responses to predators. Determining species-specific consumptive and non-consumptive effects is important to understand patterns of species diversity across landscapes.</p>
Data from: Predator performance and fitness Is dictated by herbivore prey type plus indirect effects of their host plant
<p>Animals, including herbivores and predators, use diet-mixing to balance their macro- and micronutrient intake. Recent work demonstrated that lady beetles fed only pea aphids from fava beans had reduced fitness caused by a deficiency of dietary sterols. However, beetles redressed this deficit by eating fava bean leaves. In the current study we used Coccinella septempunctata as a model to test the hypotheses that pea aphids are a poor sterol resource independent of their host plant, and that fava beans produce low quality prey regardless of aphid species. Additionally, we tested the reproductive rescue capacity of alfalfa and barley foliage compared to fava, and profiled the sterols of phloem exudates, foliage, and aphids reared on these different hosts. Beetle fecundity and egg viability was significantly better when provided pea aphids reared on alfalfa (compared to fava beans) and green peach aphids reared on fava plants. Alfalfa and barley leaves were not consumed by beetles and did not support beetle reproduction. The sterol profile of aphids largely reflected their host plant phloem. However, green peach aphids from fava acquired 125-times more sterol than pea aphids from fava. Our findings show how the sterol content of different host-plants can affect the third trophic level. Our results suggest that 1) prey quality varies depending on prey species, even when they occur on the same plant, 2) plant species can mediate prey quality, 3) host plant-mediated effects on prey quality partially drive omnivory, and 4) diet-mixing benefits growth and reproduction by redressing micronutrient deficits.</p>
Ocean acidification and predation risk, in isolation and in combination, show strong effects on marine mussels
<p><span>Carbon dioxide-induced ocean acidification are producing a range of new selection pressures on marine calcifying organisms that show phenotypic plasticity in their shell morphology in response to predators. Although there are numerous studies on the effects of ocean acidification and predation risk on marine bivalves in isolation, the understanding concerning their combined effects is still lacking. To bridge this gap, we conducted a long-term mesocosm experiment using mussel populations with different history of predator exposure: crab-experienced and crab-naïve. Mussels were exposed to either lower pH or crab cue and the combination of both these treatments for four months. We demonstrate that both crab-experienced and crab-naïve mussels have heavier, thicker, rounder and, thus, stronger shells in response to crab cues, whereas low pH significantly decreased shell mass, thickness and strength. Mussels with previous experience to crabs showed greater plasticity in response to crab cues than crab-naïve mussels. However, this differential response was eliminated by ocean acidification. Exposure to low pH and crab cue resulted in antagonistic interactions for all traits, except for shell length where the combined effect was additive. However, there was no difference among populations in the interaction type for any of the traits. Our study may provide implications for the management of mussel populations under climate change.</span></p>
Data from: Separate and combined effects of boat noise and a live crab predator on mussel valve gape behaviour
<p><strong>Data abstract:</strong></p> <p>Data on the valve gape of mussels and the behaviour of stimulus crabs during sound exposure trials. We provide the raw valve gape data, processed data, and scripts to process the raw data, make plots, and run the statistics.</p> <p><strong><span>Paper abstract:</span></strong></p> <p><span>Noisy human activities at sea are changing the acoustic environment, which has been shown to affect marine mammals and fishes. Invertebrates, such as bivalves, have so far received limited attention despite their important role in the marine ecosystem. Several studies have examined the impact of sound on anti-predator behaviour using simulated predators, but studies using live predators are scarce. In the current study, we examined the separate and combined effects of boat sound playback and predator cues from shore crabs (<em>Carcinus maenas</em>) on the behaviour of mussels (<em>Mytilus</em> spp.). We examined the behaviour of the mussels using a valve gape monitor and scored the behaviour from the crabs in one of two types of predator test conditions from video footage to control for effects from potential, sound-induced variation in crab behaviour. We found that mussels closed their valve gape during boat noise and with a crab in their tank, but also that the stimulus combination did not add up to an even smaller valve gape. The sound treatment did not affect the stimulus crabs, but the behaviour of the crabs did affect the valve gape of the mussels. Future research is needed to examine whether these results stand <em>in situ</em> and whether valve closure due to sound have fitness consequences for mussels. The effects on the well-being of individual mussels from anthropogenic noise may be relevant for population dynamics in the context of pressure from other stressors, their role as ecosystem engineers, and in the context of aquaculture.</span></p>
Effects of human and non-human predation risk on antipredator movement behaviors of an upland game bird
<p>Predators can elicit antipredator behaviors in prey such as proactive and reactive movements, but both are rarely investigated simultaneously. Impacts of human predation risk on antipredator behaviors can potentially be greater than non-human predators, resulting in increased effects on populations and community structure. Therefore, we compared the influence of human and non-human predation risk on proactive and reactive antipredator movement behaviors of a commonly harvested game bird, male Eastern wild turkeys (<em>Meleagris</em> <em>gallopavo</em>, hereafter turkey). We used simultaneously collected GPS locations from 31 turkeys and 36 coyotes (<em>Canis</em> <em>latrans</em>) to investigate antipredator behavior of turkeys to coyotes. To assess antipredator behaviors by turkeys to hunters, we used 1,661 hunting tracks collected while monitoring 109 turkeys. Specifically, for proactive movements, we quantified how predation risk influenced resource selection. To investigate reactive movements, we quantified changes in movement behavior of turkeys after encountering hunters and coyotes. Coyotes and turkeys were sympatric on the landscape as home range overlap was high, but lack of core area overlap, encounters, and similar resource selection suggested use of different areas on the landscape. Turkeys selected areas associated with decreased coyote risk and closer to hardwoods. Coyotes preferred shrubs and open areas, suggesting turkeys avoided coyote risk and the habitats coyotes preferred. We detected 17 coyote and turkey contacts, and probability of a contact decreased by 16.6% for every 100m farther from a forest edge. Turkeys did not display reactive movement behaviors after a direct encounter with coyotes, as step lengths were similar prior and after encounters, which did not differ from random step lengths. After the onset of hunting, turkeys selected to be farther away from public access points and closer to private property, suggesting proactive avoidance of areas associated with increased hunter predation risk. We detected 31 hunter and turkey contacts, step lengths after hunter contacts were approximately double compared to random step lengths. The probability of a hunter-turkey contact decreased by 5.5% for every 100m farther from a secondary road. Collectively, antipredator movement behaviors by turkeys suggest coyote risk to be low over a broad temporal window as we only documented proactive movement behaviors. Conversely, hunter risk is high for a short temporal window while hunting is occurring, as we documented both proactive and reactive movement behavior responses. Overall, we provide insight into how human-induced fear can cause antipredator behavioral responses greater than non-human fear, potentially causing changes in species distribution and community structure.</p>
Prey availability influences the effect of boldness on reproductive success in a mammalian predator
<p>Boldness is an important trait in wild populations and among-individual differences can link to individual fitness<span>. </span>The strength and direction of relationships between behavioral and life-history traits may however vary according to environmental conditions, where fluctuating selection acting on behavioral traits contributes to the maintenance of personality differences. <span>We </span>explored sources of variation in <span>Arctic fox (<em>Vulpes</em> <em>lagopus</em>) boldness </span>and <span>investigated how temporal variation in the abundance of a main prey (lemmings) influences the relationship between fox boldness and reproductive success. We measured the behavioral reaction of individuals when escaping after handling, as an indicator of their boldness. We obtained 70 measurements from 42 individuals </span>during two years of low lemming abundance and two years of high lemming abundance<span> and assessed fox litter size as an indicator of reproductive success. First, individual characteristics (age, sex, mass) did not affect Arctic fox boldness, while individual identity generated variation in boldness. Next, </span>we found that during years of low lemming density, individuals behaving boldly had more pups than those behaving less boldly, suggesting boldness may provide an advantage when lemmings are scarce by increasing hunting success or allowing access to alternative resources. However, all <span>individuals tended to show high levels of boldness when lemming density was high, and all produced large litters. </span>Temporal variation in the abundance of a main prey might therefore influence the relation between boldness and reproductive success of a predator, and if individuals consistently differ in their level of boldness, fluctuating selection could contribute to the maintenance of personality.</p>
Effects of early predation and social cues on the relationship between laterality and personality in the Threespined stickleback
<p>Individual differences in laterality and personality are expected to covary, as emotions are processed differently by the two hemispheres and personality involves emotional behavior. Fish species are often used to investigate this topic due to the large variability in personality and laterality patterns. While some species show a positive relationship between lateralization strength and boldness, others show a negative relationship, and some show no relationship. To investigate whether this relationship follows changes in laterality and personality, we conducted a fully factorial design experiment manipulating predation and group size during early development. Results showed that the strength of laterality was influenced by predation threat, while social tendency and boldness were influenced by group size. These findings suggest that early life conditions can have an impact on laterality and social behavior. The relationship between laterality and personality traits, while present, was heavily influenced by the specific trial conditions, but not by the different developmental conditions.</p>
Associated model data for: Size-selective predation effects on juvenile Chinook salmon cohort survival off Central California evaluated with an individual-based model
<p><span>T</span>his dataset corresponds to the paper "Size-selective predation effects on juvenile Chinook salmon cohort survival off Central California evaluated with an individual-based model" which is in press at Fisheries Oceanography. The abstract for this paper is as follows: </p> <p>Variation in the recruitment of salmon is often found to be correlated with marine climate indices, but mechanisms behind environment-recruitment relationships remain unclear and correlations often break down over time. We used an ecosystem modeling approach to explore bottom-up and top-down mechanisms linking a variable environment to salmon recruitment variations. Our ecosystem model incorporates a regional ocean circulation sub-model for hydrodynamics, a nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton sub-model for producing planktonic prey fields, and an individual-based model (IBM) representing juvenile Chinook salmon (<em>Oncorhynchus</em> <em>tshawytscha</em>), combined with observations of foraging distributions and diet of a seabird predator. The salmon IBM consists of modules, including a juvenile salmon growth module based on temperature and salmon-prey availability, a behavior-based movement module, and a juvenile salmon predation mortality module based on juvenile salmon size distribution and predator-prey interaction probability. Seabird-salmon interactions depend on spatial overlap and juvenile salmon size, whereby salmon that grow past the size range of the prey distribution of the predator will escape predation. We used a 21-year historical simulation to explore interannual variability in juvenile Chinook salmon growth and predation-mediated survival under a range of ocean conditions for sized-based mortality scenarios. We based a series of increasingly complex predation scenarios on seabird observational data to explore variability in predation mortality on juvenile Chinook salmon. We initially included information about the predator spatial distribution, then added population size, and finally, the predator's diet percentage made up of juvenile salmon. Model agreement improves with added predator complexity, especially during periods when predator abundance is high. Overall, our model found that when the fraction of juvenile salmon in seabird diet increased relative to alternate prey (e.g., Northern anchovy <em>Engraulis</em> <em>mordax</em>, and juvenile rockfish <em>Sebastes</em> spp.), there was a concomitant decrease in salmon cohort survival during their first year at sea.</p>
Effects of adult and egg predators on hatching plasticity of the pulmonate limpet
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A common measure of prey immune function is not constrained by the cascading effects of predators
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Data from: Cascading effects of climate variability on the breeding success of an edge population of an apex predator
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Ocean acidification and predation risk, in isolation and in combination, show strong effects on marine mussels
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Data from: Separate and combined effects of boat noise and a live crab predator on mussel valve gape behaviour
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Both consumptive and non-consumptive effects of predators impact mosquito populations and have implications for disease transmission
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Data from: Direct and indirect effect of cannibalism and intraguild predation in the two sibling Harmonia ladybird beetles
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Allen Brain Atlas
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