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35 results for “natural predator”
Figure 2 in Natural prey of the crab spider Thomisus onustus (Araneae: Thomisidae), an extremely powerful predator of insects
Figure 2. Some of the largest prey captured by Thomisus onustus juveniles together with their captors. (A) Syrphid fly; (B) bombyliid fly; (C) calliphorid fly; (D) Cataglyphis setipes ant.
Figure 1 in Natural prey of the crab spider Thomisus onustus (Araneae: Thomisidae), an extremely powerful predator of insects
Figure 1. Distribution of prey of different sex–age groups of Thomisus onustus (black, late instar and adult females; grey, medium-sized juveniles; dotted, adult males; white, small juveniles) in different size categories (body lengths of prey expressed as percentages of the body lengths of their captors).
Co-parasitism in the face of predation: Effects of natural enemies on a neotropical mockingbird
<p>Co-parasitism is ubiquitous and has important consequences for the ecology and evolution of wild host populations. Studies of parasite co-infections remain limited in scope, with few experimental tests of the fitness consequences of multiple parasites, especially in natural populations.</p> <p>We measured the separate and combined effects of <em>Philornis seguyi </em>nest flies and shiny cowbirds (<em>Molothrus bonariensi</em>s) on the fitness of a shared host, the chalk-browed mockingbird (<em>Mimus saturninus</em>) in Argentina.</p> <p>Using a two-factor experimental approach, we manipulated the presence of nest flies and cowbirds in mockingbird nests and assessed their effects on mockingbird hemoglobin levels, begging and provisioning rates, body size, and fledging success. We also monitored rates of nest predation in relation to parasitism by flies and cowbirds.</p> <p>Nest flies reduced the hemoglobin concentration, body size, and fledging success of mockingbirds, likely because mockingbirds did not compensate for parasitism by begging more or feeding their nestlings more. Cowbirds also reduced the fledging success of mockingbirds, even though they had no detectable effect on hemoglobin or body size. Nests with cowbirds, which beg more than mockingbirds, attracted more nest predators. There was no significant interaction between the effects of flies and cowbirds on any component of mockingbird fitness. The combined effects of nest flies and cowbirds were strictly additive.</p> <p>In summary, we show that nest flies and cowbirds both reduce host fitness, but do not have interactive effects in co-parasitized nests. Our results further suggest that predators exacerbate the effects of nest flies and cowbirds on their hosts. Our study shows that the fitness consequences of co-parasitism are complex, especially in the context of community-level interactions.</p>
The role of human hunters and natural predators in shaping the selection of behavioral types in male wild turkeys
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Co-parasitism in the face of predation: Effects of natural enemies on a neotropical mockingbird
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Data from: Predator life history and prey ontogeny limit natural selection on the major armour gene, Eda, in threespine stickleback
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Quantifying the effects of species traits on predation risk in nature: a comparative study of butterfly wing damage
<p>1) Evading predators is a fundamental aspect of the ecology and evolution of all prey animals. In studying the influence of prey traits on predation risk, previous researchers have shown that crypsis reduces attack rates on resting prey, predation risk increases with increased prey activity, and rapid locomotion reduces attack rates and increases chances of surviving predator attacks. However, evidence for these conclusions is nearly always based on observations of selected species under artificial conditions. In nature, it remains unclear how defensive traits such as crypsis, activity levels, and speed influence realized predation risk across species in a community. Whereas direct observations of predator-prey interactions in nature are rare, insight can be gained by quantifying bodily damage caused by failed predator attacks. 2) We quantified how butterfly species traits affect predation risk in nature by determining how defensive traits correlate with wing damage caused by failed predation attempts, thereby providing the first robust multi-species comparative analysis of predator-induced bodily damage in wild animals. 3) For 34 species of fruit-feeding butterflies in an African forest, we recorded wing damage and quantified crypsis, activity levels, and flight speed. We then tested for correlations between damage parameters and species traits using comparative methods that account for measurement error. 4) We detected considerable differences in the extent, location, and symmetry of wing surface loss among species, with smaller differences between sexes. We found that males (but not females) of species that flew faster had substantially less wing surface loss. However, we found no correlation between cryptic colouration and symmetrical wing surface loss across species. In species in which males appeared to be more active than females, males had a lower proportion of symmetrical wing surface loss than females. 5) Our results provide evidence that activity greatly influences the probability of attacks and that flying rapidly is effective for escaping pursuing predators in the wild, but we did not find evidence that cryptic species are less likely to be attacked while at rest. 15-Oct-2019</p>
Predation risk shapes the degree of placentation in natural populations of live-bearing fish
<p class="manuscriptABSATZ"><span>The placenta is a complex life-history trait that is ubiquitous across the tree of life. Theory proposes that the placenta evolves in response to high performance-demanding conditions by shifting maternal investment from pre- to post-fertilization, thereby reducing a female's reproductive burden during pregnancy. We test this hypothesis by studying populations of the fish species <i>Poeciliopsis retropinna</i> in Costa Rica. We found substantial variation in the degree of placentation among natural populations associated with predation risk: females from high predation populations had significantly higher degrees of placentation compared to low predation females, while number, size and quality of offspring at birth remained unaffected. Moreover, a higher degree of placentation correlated with a lower reproductive burden and hence likely an improved swimming performance during pregnancy. Our study advances an adaptive explanation for why the placenta evolves by arguing that an increased degree of placentation offers a selective advantage in high predation environments. </span></p>
Data from: Experimentally simulating the evolution-to-ecology connection: Divergent predator morphologies alter natural food webs
<p class="MsoNormal">The idea that changing environmental conditions drive adaptive evolution is a pillar of evolutionary ecology. But, the opposite—that adaptive evolution alters ecological processes—has received far less attention yet is critical for eco-evolutionary dynamics. We assessed the ecological impact of divergent values in a key adaptive trait using 16 populations of the brown anole lizard (<em class="i">Anolis sagrei</em>). Mirroring natural variation, we established islands with short- or long-limbed lizards at both low and high densities. We then monitored changes in lower trophic levels, finding that on islands with short-limbed lizards at high-density<span class="inserted">,</span> web spider<span class="inserted">s</span> decreased and plants grew more via an indirect positive effect, likely through an herbivore-mediated trophic cascade. Our experiment provides strong support for evolution-to-ecology connections in nature, likely closing an otherwise well-characterized eco-evolutionary feedback loop.</p>
Artificial supplementary food influences hedgehog occupancy and activity patterns more than predator presence or natural food availability
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Data from: Experimentally simulating the evolution-to-ecology connection: Divergent predator morphologies alter natural food webs
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Harvest and natural predation shape selection for behavioral predictability in male wild turkeys
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Predation risk shapes the degree of placentation in natural populations of live-bearing fish
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Coincidental intraguild predation among natural enemies of the South American tomato leafminer <em>Phthorimaea</em> <em>absoluta</em>
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Quantifying the effects of species traits on predation risk in nature: a comparative study of butterfly wing damage
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Data from: Predator-driven natural selection on risk-taking behavior in anole lizards
Biologists have long debated the role of behavior in evolution, yet understanding of its role as a driver of adaptation is hampered by the scarcity of experimental studies of natural selection on behavior in nature. After showing that individual Anolis sagrei lizards vary consistently in risk-taking behaviors, we experimentally established populations on eight small islands either with or without Leiocephalus carinatus, a major ground predator. We found that selection predictably favors different risk-taking behaviors under different treatments: Exploratory behavior is favored in the absence of predators, whereas avoidance of the ground is favored in their presence. On predator islands, selection on behavior is stronger than selection on morphology, whereas the opposite holds on islands without predators. Our field experiment demonstrates that selection can shape behavioral traits, paving the way toward adaptation to varying environmental contexts.
Data from: Natural habitat does not mediate vertebrate seed predation as an ecosystem dis-service to agriculture
1. Spillover of beneficial organisms from natural habitats to croplands can improve agro-ecosystem services, but wildlife can also negatively influence agricultural production. When managing agricultural landscapes to conserve biodiversity, we need to understand if the availability of natural habitats increases ecosystem dis-services such as vertebrate seed predation to avoid risking higher costs than benefits. 2. We studied whether vertebrates and their impact in crop seed predation are related to the percentage of natural (Chaparral) and semi-natural habitat (planted forest with native and exotic trees) in an agricultural landscape of Israel. We selected 20 almond and 20 sunflower study sites within a landscape with varying percentages of natural (0–61%) and semi-natural (0–70%) habitats within a 1000-m radius of their surroundings. We observed birds, trapped rodents (in almond), counted seeds and noted feeding marks to obtain seed predation rates, at each site. Within the almond crops, we physically excluded birds, rodents and both to determine their relative and combined influence on seed predation. 3. Neither vertebrate abundance nor species richness was influenced by the percentage of natural habitat. However, bird species richness increased with increasing percentage of semi-natural habitat. 4. Seed predation across both crops was not influenced by natural or semi-natural habitat but increased significantly with increasing abundance and species richness of birds. This was also reflected by the exclusions of birds, vertebrates and both to the almond crop, leading to lowest seed predation when both groups were excluded. 5. Synthesis and applications. Natural or semi-natural habitat did not influence the agro-ecosystem dis-service of seed predation by birds and rodents. Policymakers should consider promoting agri-environment schemes that include the conservation of natural habitats and the management of semi-natural habitats adjacent to cropland to enhance agro-ecosystem services meditated by beneficial organisms like natural pest enemies and pollinators without fearing increased vertebrate seed predation. In order to provide more detailed management recommendations tackling the reduction of vertebrate dis-services their feeding behaviour, metabolic needs, behaviour patterns and local abundances should be taken into account.
Data from: Natural selection by pulsed predation: survival of the thickest
Selective predation can lead to natural selection in prey populations and may alleviate competition among surviving individuals. The processes of selection and competition can have substantial effects on prey population dynamics, but are rarely studied simultaneously. Moreover, field studies of predator-induced short-term selection pressures on prey populations are scarce. Here we report measurements of density dependence in body composition in a bivalve prey (edible cockle, Cerastoderma edule) during bouts of intense predation by an avian predator (red knot, Calidris canutus). We measured densities, patchiness, morphology, and body composition (shell and flesh mass) of cockles in a quasi-experimental setting, i.e. before and after predation in three similar plots of 1 ha each, two of which experienced predation, and one of which remained unvisited in the course of the short study period and served as a reference. An individual's shell and flesh mass declined with cockle density (negative density dependence). Before predation, cockles were patchily distributed. After predation, during which densities were reduced by 78% (from 232 m-2 to 50 m-2), the patchiness was substantially reduced, i.e. the spatial distribution was homogenized. Red knots selected juvenile cockles with an average length of 6.9 mm (SD 1.0). Cockles surviving predation had heavier shells than before predation (an increase of 21.5 percentage points), but similar flesh masses. By contrast, in the reference plot shell mass did not differ statistically between initial and final sampling occasions, while flesh mass was larger (an increase of 13.2 percentage points). In this field-study, we show that red knots imposed a strong selection pressure on cockles to grow fast with thick shells and little flesh mass, with selection gradients among the highest reported in the literature.
Data from: Nonconsumptive predator-driven mortality causes natural selection on prey
Predators frequently exert natural selection through differential consumption of their prey. However, predators may also cause prey mortality through nonconsumptive effects, which could cause selection if different prey phenotypes are differentially susceptible to this nonconsumptive mortality. Here we present an experimental test of this hypothesis, which reveals that nonconsumptive mortality imposed by predatory dragonflies causes selection on their damselfly prey favoring increased activity levels. These results are consistent with other studies of predator-driven selection, however, they reveal that consumption alone is not the only mechanism by which predators can exert selection on prey. Uncovering this mechanism also suggests that prey defensive traits may represent adaptations to not only avoid being consumed, but also for dealing with other sources of mortality caused by predators. Demonstrating selection through both consumptive and nonconsumptive predator mortality provides us with insight into the diverse effects of predators as an evolutionary force.
Distribution. Natural distribution now restricted to West and East Franklin Is, Nuyts Archipelago, South Australia. From 1990, successful introductions (assisted colonization) from there to Salutation I, W Western Australia, and to Reevesby I and Saint Peter I, South Australia; also reintroduced to predator-exclosures at Mt Gibson Sanctuary, Western Australia, Arid Recovery Reserve, Roxby Downs, South Australia, and Scotia Sanctuary, New South Wales. Attempted reintroduction to Faure I, Western Australia, failed. in Muridae
Distribution. Natural distribution now restricted to West and East Franklin Is, Nuyts Archipelago, South Australia. From 1990, successful introductions (assisted colonization) from there to Salutation I, W Western Australia, and to Reevesby I and Saint Peter I, South Australia; also reintroduced to predator-exclosures at Mt Gibson Sanctuary, Western Australia, Arid Recovery Reserve, Roxby Downs, South Australia, and Scotia Sanctuary, New South Wales. Attempted reintroduction to Faure I, Western Australia, failed.
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Allen Brain Atlas
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Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
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