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48 results for “predator conditioning”
Data and R-scripts from: Multiple stressors: negative effects of nest predation on the viability of a threatened gull in different environmental conditions
<p>This contains data and R-scripts used in: </p> <ul> <li>Bård-Jørgen Bårdsen and Jan Ove Bustnes (2022). Multiple stressors: negative effects of nest predation on the viability of a threatened gull in different environmental conditions. Journal of Avian Biology.</li> </ul> <p>This study assessed the population viability of a population of the lesser black-backed gull (<em>Larus fuscus fuscus</em>) using data collected during 2005-2020 from a nature reserve in Northern Norway. The study merged results from statistical analyses of empirical data with a Leslie model. Here, we provide the underlying data, and the R-scripts used to analyse the data and run the model. The data set include information about reproduction at several stages (laying, hatching and fledgling), nest predation, and individual capture histories (used to estimate apparent survival; see <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jav.02953">Bårdsen and Bustnes 2022</a>).</p>
Fig. 1 in Physiological responses of anti-predation in prey fish to the threat of piscivorous fish in different underwater visibility conditions
Fig. 1. Mean and standard error of plasma cortisol levels for Astyanax bimaculatus (Linnaeus, 1758) shoals in treatments with clear (white box) and turbid water (striped box). Different letters above bars indicate significant differences at P<0.05 in the Kruskal Wallis test between predator types. There were no differences between plasma cortisol levels in clear and turbid water treatments.
Data and R-scripts from: Multiple stressors: negative effects of nest predation on the viability of a threatened gull in different environmental conditions
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Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
<p>We assessed the hypothesised negative correlation between the influence of multiple predators and body condition and fecundity of the European hare, from 13 areas in the Netherlands.</p> <p>Year-round abundance of predators was estimated by hunters. We quantified predator influence as the sum of their field metabolic rates, as this sum reflects the daily food requirements of multiple individuals. We determined the ratio between body mass and hindfoot length of hares as an index of body condition, and the weight of their adrenal gland as a measure of chronic exposure to stress, and we counted the number of placental scars to estimate the fecundity of hares.</p> <p>As hypothesised, we found that the sum of field metabolic rate of predators was negatively correlated with body condition and the number of placental scars, whereas it was positively related to the weight of the adrenal glands. In contrast to the sum of the field metabolic rate, the total number of predators did not affect the investigated risk responses.</p> <p>The sum of the field metabolic rate can be a useful proxy for the influence of multiple predators and takes into account predator abundance, type, body weight, and food requirements of multiple predators.</p> <p>With our findings, our paper contributes to a better understanding of the risk effects of multiple predators on prey fitness. Additionally, we identify a potential contributor to the decline of European hare populations.</p>
Conditioning, short-term and long-term memory tests of Drosophila melanogaster grown with and without predators
<p>Conditioning (i.e., associative learning) and memory tests were performed following the methods of previous studies. We used samples of 10 adult flies (males only), raised in standard conditions and aged 6-7 days. The conditioning procedure consisted of 5 training sessions separated by 20-minute intervals (i.e., spaced protocol). During associative conditioning, flies were first exposed for 30 seconds (s) to one odorant simultaneously with a mechanical shock of 2000 rpm vibration pulses of 1 s duration, delivered every 5 s by a test tube shaker (Heidolph Instruments, Schwabach, Germany). This period was followed by a 60 s rest period (no odor and no shock). Then, for 30 s, another odorant was delivered without shock. The training session ended with a second rest period of 60 s. 3-octanol and 4-methylcyclohexanol (both 0.6 mL/L of paraffin) were used as odorants. Each fly group was chosen to be conditioned randomly to either 3-octanol or 4-methylcyclohexanol. The results of the final trial (the fifth out of 5 trials, referred to as the “conditioning” group hereafter) of associative conditioning were used to characterize the learning of fruit flies. </p> <p>We tested 1 h (short-term memory, STM) and 24 h memory (LTM) retention after associative conditioning. During the memory retention assay, the flies walked to the choice point of a T-maze, in which they were exposed to two converging currents of air, one carrying 3-octanol and the other 4-methylcyclohexanol, and then allowed to choose between the two odors for 60 s. The memory score was calculated as the difference in the proportion of individuals choosing 3-octanol between flies conditioned to avoid 4-methylcyclohexanol and those conditioned to avoid 3-octanol.</p>
Data for: Prey resources are equally important as climatic conditions for predicting the distribution of a broad-ranged apex predator
<p>Aim: A current biogeographic paradigm states that climate regulates species distributions at continental scales and that biotic interactions are undetectable at coarse-grain extents. However, advances in spatial modelling show that incorporating food resource distributions are important for improving model predictions at large distribution scales. This is particularly relevant to understand the factors limiting distribution of widespread apex predators whose diets are likely to vary across their range.</p> <p>Location: Neotropical Central and South America</p> <p>Methods: The harpy eagle (<em>Harpia harpyja</em>) is a large raptor, whose diet is largely comprised of arboreal mammals, all with broad distributions across Neotropical lowland forest. Here, we used a hierarchical modelling approach to determine the relative importance of abiotic factors and prey resource distribution on harpy eagle range limits. Our hierarchical approach consisted of the following modelling sequence of explanatory variables: (a) abiotic covariates, (b) prey resource distributions predicted by an equivalent modelling for each prey, (c) the combination of (a) and (b), and (d) as in (c) but with prey resources considered as a single prediction equivalent to prey species richness.</p> <p>Results: Incorporating prey distributions improved model predictions but using solely biotic covariates still resulted in a high performing model. In the Abiotic model, Climatic Moisture Index (CMI) was the most important predictor, contributing 76 % to model prediction. Three-toed sloth (<em>Bradypus</em> spp.) was the most important prey resource, contributing 64 % in a combined Abiotic-Biotic model, followed by CMI contributing 30 %. Harpy eagle distribution had high environmental overlap across all individual prey distributions, with highest coincidence through Central America, eastern Colombia, and across the Guiana Shield into northern Amazonia. </p> <p>Main conclusions: With strong reliance on prey distributions across its range, harpy eagle conservation programs must therefore consider its most important food resources as a key element in the protection of this threatened raptor.</p>
Influence of multiple predators decreases body condition and fecundity of European hares
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Data for: Prey resources are equally important as climatic conditions for predicting the distribution of a broad-ranged apex predator
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Variable effects of mycorrhizal fungi on predator-prey dynamics under field conditions
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Data from: Dietary specialization is conditionally associated with increased ant predation risk in a temperate forest caterpillar community
The enemy-free space hypothesis (EFSH) contends that generalist predators select for dietary specialization in insect herbivores. At a community level, the EFSH predicts that dietary specialization reduces predation risk, and this pattern has been found in several studies addressing the impact of individual predator taxa or guilds. However, predation at a community level is also subject to combinatorial effects of multiple predator types, raising the question of how so-called multiple predator effects relate to dietary specialization in insect herbivores. Here we test the EFSH with a field experiment quantifying ant predation risk to insect herbivores (caterpillars) with and without the combined predation effects of birds. Assessing a community of 20 caterpillar species, we use model selection in a phylogenetic comparative framework to identify the caterpillar traits that best predict the risk of ant predation. A caterpillar species' abundance, dietary specialization, and behavioral defenses were important predictors of its ant predation risk. Abundant caterpillar species had increased its risk of ant predation irrespective of bird predation. Caterpillar species with broad diet breadth and behavioral responsiveness to attack had reduced ant predation risk, but these ant effects only occurred when birds also had access to the caterpillar community. These findings suggest that ant predation of caterpillar species is density- or frequency-dependent, that ants and birds may impose countervailing selection on dietary specialization within the same herbivore community, and that contingent effects of multiple predators may generate behaviorally mediated life history trade-offs associated with herbivore diet breadth.
Data from: When condition trumps location: seed consumption by fruit-eating birds removes pathogens and predator attractants
Seed ingestion by frugivorous vertebrates commonly benefits plants by moving seeds to locations with fewer predators and pathogens than under the parent. For plants with high local population densities, however, movement from the parent plant is unlikely to result in 'escape' from predators and pathogens. Changes to seed condition caused by gut passage may also provide benefits, yet are rarely evaluated as an alternative. Here, we use a common bird-dispersed chilli pepper (Capsicum chacoense) to conduct the first experimental comparison of escape-related benefits to condition-related benefits of animal-mediated seed dispersal. Within chilli populations, seeds dispersed far from parent plants gained no advantage from escape alone, but seed consumption by birds increased seed survival by 370% – regardless of dispersal distance – due to removal during gut passage of fungal pathogens and chemical attractants to granivores. These results call into question the pre-eminence of escape as the primary advantage of dispersal within populations and document two overlooked mechanisms by which frugivores can benefit fruiting plants.
Data from: Variable sea-ice conditions influence trophic dynamics in an Arctic community of marine top predators
Sea‐ice coverage is a key abiotic driver of annual environmental conditions in Arctic marine ecosystems and could be a major factor affecting seabird trophic dynamics. Using stable isotope ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in eggs of thick‐billed murres (Uria lomvia), northern fulmars (Fulmarus glacialis), glaucous gulls (Larus hyperboreus), and black‐legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla), we investigated the trophic ecology of prebreeding seabirds nesting at Prince Leopold Island, Nunavut, and its relationship with sea‐ice conditions. The seabird community of Prince Leopold Island had a broader isotopic niche during lower sea‐ice conditions, thus having a more divergent diet, while the opposite was observed during years with more extensive sea‐ice conditions. Species' trophic position was influenced by sea ice; in years of lower sea‐ice concentration, gulls and kittiwakes foraged at higher trophic levels while the opposite was observed for murres and fulmars. For murres and fulmars over a longer time series, there was no evidence of the effect of sea‐ice concentration on species' isotopic niche. Results suggest a high degree of adaptation in populations of high Arctic species that cope with harsh and unpredictable conditions. Such different responses of the community isotopic niche also show that the effect of variable sea‐ice conditions, despite being subtle at the species level, might have larger implications when considering the trophic ecology of the larger seabird community. Species‐specific responses in foraging patterns, in particular trophic position in relation to sea ice, are critical to understanding effects of ecosystem change predicted for a changing climate.
Differential influence of Slc7a11 expression and body condition on pheomelanin‐based pigmentation in two Eurasian nuthatch Sitta europaea populations with different predation risk
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>The expression of the gene <i>Slc7a11</i>promotes the antioxidant capacity of cells by providing them with cysteine that can be used for the synthesis of glutathione (GSH), the most important intracellular antioxidant. In melanocytes, intracellular cysteine can also enter melanosomes and get incorporated in the pigment pheomelanin synthesis pathway, thus decreasing cysteine availability for GSH synthesis and potentially creating chronic oxidative stress. We thus hypothesized that a mechanism limiting the use of intramelanocytic cysteine for pheomelanin synthesis in environmental conditions generating oxidative stress may be physiologically advantageous and favored by natural selection. Here we searched for evidence of such a mechanism by comparing the influence of melanocytic <i>Slc7a11</i>expression on pheomelanin-based pigmentation in developing Eurasian nuthatch <i>Sitta europaea</i>nestlings from two populations differing in predation risk, a natural source of oxidative stress. Pheomelanin synthesis and pigmentation tended to increase with <i>Slc7a11</i>expression in the low-risk population as expected from the activity of this gene, but decreased with <i>Slc7a11</i>expression in the high-risk population. The same was not observed in the expression of five other genes influencing pheomelanin synthesis without affecting cysteine availability in melanocytes. The influence of body condition on the intensity of pheomelanin-based pigmentation also differed between populations, being positive in the low-risk population and negative in the high-risk population. The resulting pigmentation of birds was more intense in the high-risk population. These findings suggest that birds perceiving high predation risk may limit the use of cysteine for pheomelanin synthesis, which becomes independent of <i>Slc7a11</i>expression. Some birds may have thus evolved the ability to adjust their pigmentation phenotype to environmental stress.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>
Data from: Interpopulation variation in a condition-dependent signal: predation regime affects signal intensity and reliability
In many models of sexual selection, conspicuous ornaments are preferred by mates because they indicate heritable signaler viability. To function as indicators, ornaments must exhibit a proportional relationship between expression and viability. In cases where the evolutionary interests of signaler and receiver diverge, selection favors exploitative exaggeration by low-viability individuals producing unreliable signals. Theory suggests that the evolutionary stability of such communication systems requires costs that prevent low-viability males from expressing disproportionately intense signals. Therefore, given ecological variation in signaling cost, the reliability of signaling systems will vary concomitantly. In this study, we assess the effect of a variable signal cost, predation, on signal intensity and reliability among 16 populations of Bahamas mosquitofish (Gambusia hubbsi) that use colorful dorsal fins in courtship displays. We found that fin coloration was more intense in low-predation sites and could be used to predict body condition. However, this predictive relationship was apparent only in populations subject to predation risk. We demonstrate an important role for ecological signaling cost in communication and show that ecological heterogeneity drives interpopulation variation in both the intensity and the reliability of a sexual signal.
Data from: Local forage fish abundance influences foraging effort and offspring condition in an Endangered marine predator
1. Understanding the functional relationship between marine predators and their prey is vital to inform ecosystem-based management. However, collecting concurrent data on predator behaviour and their prey at relevant scales is challenging. Moreover, opportunities to study these relationships in the absence of industrial fishing are extremely rare. 2. We took advantage of an experimental fisheries closure to study how local prey abundance influences foraging success and chick condition of Endangered African penguins Spheniscus demersus in the Benguela Ecosystem. 3. We tracked 75 chick-provisioning penguins with GPS-time-depth devices, measured body condition of 569 chicks, quantified the diet of 83 breeding penguins and conducted 12 forage fish hydro-acoustic surveys within a 20 km radius of Robben Island, South Africa, over three years (2011–2013). Commercial fishing for the penguins' main prey, sardine Sardinops sagax and anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus, was prohibited within this 20 km radius during the study period. 4. Local forage fish abundance explained 60% of the variation in time spent diving for 14 penguins at sea within 2 days of a hydro-acoustic survey. Penguin foraging effort (time spent diving, number of wiggles per trip, number of foraging dives and the maximum distance travelled) increased and offspring body condition decreased as forage fish abundance declined. In addition, quantile regression revealed that variation in foraging effort increased as prey abundance around the colony declined. 5. Policy implications. Our results demonstrate that local forage fish abundance influences seabird foraging and offspring fitness. They also highlight the potential for offspring condition and the mean-variance relationship in foraging behaviour to act as leading indicators of poor prey abundance. By rapidly indicating periods where forage resources are scarce, these metrics could help limit seabird-fisheries competition and aid the implementation of dynamic ocean management.
Data from: Variation in offspring development is driven more by weather and maternal condition than predation risk
1. Variation in offspring development is expected to be driven by constraints on resource allocation between growth and maintenance (e.g., thermoregulation). Rapid post-natal development decreases predation risk, while inclement weather likely prolongs development. For taxa with parental care, parental behaviour may buffer offspring against some extrinsic drivers. 2. Using a 7-year dataset from an alpine population of horned lark Eremophila alpestris, a ground-nesting songbird in northern British Columbia, Canada, we investigated multiple potential drivers of variation in incubation and nestling development duration. 3. Using path analysis, we evaluated the direct effects of weather, predation risk, and parental care on offspring development, as well as, indirect developmental 'carry-over' effects of conditions during incubation on the nestling period. 4. Nestling period duration varied by nearly 100% (7–13 days) and incubation duration by 40% (10–14 days). Cold ambient temperatures late in the nestling period prolonged development by 1 day for every 2 days below 10°C; particularly when combined with heavy precipitation. Rapid nestling development was associated with high predation risk, and prolonging development incurred a nest survival cost (–2.3%/day). Females in good condition created nest environments that promoted rapid nestling development periods (average = 8–9 days) compared to poor condition females during harsh, early-season conditions (10–11 days), indicating buffering capabilities against environmental constraints. Incubation duration was only weakly correlated with fledging age (r = –0.21) suggesting minimal developmental carry-over effects. 5. Given high nest predation risk, immediate fitness benefits can be derived by overcoming environmental constraints and reducing development time. While predation risk was influential, inclement weather and maternal condition had stronger effects on within-population variation in development time. We highlight the importance of addressing multiple drivers of variation in key life-history traits and provide context for understanding life-history theory under changing environmental conditions.
Beaked whales and state-dependent decision-making: how does body condition affect the trade-off between foraging and predator avoidance?
<p>Body condition is central to how animals balance foraging with predator-avoidance – a trade-off that fundamentally affects animal fitness. Animals in poor condition may accept greater predation risk to satisfy current foraging "needs", whilst those in good condition may be more risk averse to protect future "assets". These state-dependent behavioural predictions can help interpret responses to human activities, but are little explored in marine animals. This study investigates the influence of body condition on how beaked whales trade off foraging and predator-avoidance. Body density (indicating lipid-energy stores) was estimated for 15 foraging northern bottlenose whales tagged near Jan Mayen, Norway. Composite indices of foraging (diving and echolocation clicks) and anti-predation (long ascents, non-foraging dives and silent periods reducing predator eavesdropping) were negatively related. Experimental sonar exposures led to decreased foraging and increased risk aversion, confirming a foraging/perceived safety trade-off. However, lower lipid stores were not related to a decrease in predator-avoidance versus foraging, i.e. worse condition animals did not prioritise foraging. Individual differences ('personalities') or reproductive context could offer alternative explanations for the observed state-behaviour relationships. This study provides evidence of foraging/predator-avoidance trade-offs in a marine top predator and demonstrates that animals in worse condition might not always take more risks.</p>
The nutritional condition of moose co-varies with climate, but not with density, predation risk, or diet composition
<p>A fundamental question about the ecology of herbivore populations pertains to the relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on nutritional condition. Nutritional condition is influenced in important, yet poorly understood, ways by plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) which can adversely affect a herbivore's physiology and energetics. Here we assess the relative influence of various abiotic (weather) and biotic (intraspecific competition, predation risk and diet composition) factors on indicators of nutritional condition and the energetic costs of detoxifying PSMs for the moose population in Isle Royale National Park (U.S.A.). Specifically, we observed interannual variation in the ratio of urea nitrogen to creatinine (UN:C), an indicator of nutritional restriction, over 29 years and the ratio of glucuronic acid to creatinine (GA:C), an indicator of energetic investment, in detoxifying PSMs over 19-years. Both UN:C and GA:C were measured in samples of urine-soaked snow. Most importantly, climatic factors explained 66% of the interannual variation in UN:C, with moose being more nutritionally stressed during winters with deep snow and during winters that followed warm summers. None of the biotic factors (density, predation, diet composition) were useful predictors of UN:C or GA:C. The absence of a relationship between diet composition and either UN:C or GA:C suggests that the nutritional ecology of wild herbivores is probably complicated by fine-scale variation in protein content and concentrations of PSMs amongst plants of the same species. UN:C increased with GA:C at both the individual and population-level. That result is consistent with detoxification being energetically costly, such that it impairs nutritional condition and also highlight show spatio-temporal variation in the intake and detoxification of PSMs may influence population dynamics. Lastly, because we observed interannual variation in nutritional condition over three decades and detoxification over two decades these findings are relevant to concerns about how herbivore populations respond to climate change.</p>
Data from: Size‐dependent stress response in juvenile Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) under prolonged predator conditioning
Predator conditioning can be used to improve post-release antipredator recognition of hatchery-reared salmonids. However, possible negative stress-related effects of prolonged predator conditioning on juvenile fish physiology are poorly understood. We studied the effects of prolonged (91 days) predator odour exposure on whole-body cortisol level and spleen size in six full-sib families of juvenile hatchery-bred Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus). Chemical cues from water containing charr-fed pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) were used as the predator exposure stimuli, and lakewater was used as a chemical control. Our study revealed that juvenile body cortisol levels post-predator conditioning were affected by treatment, fish size and their interaction. Importantly, among the smaller (i.e. slowest growing) charr, the predator-exposed fish had higher cortisol levels than control fish, while the opposite pattern was true for the larger fish. These results suggest that chemical cues from charr-fed predators induce a prolonged stress response in juvenile charr. As prolonged predation exposure seems to elevate stress levels in a size-dependent manner, the larger, faster growing fish could possibly have intrinsically lower stress responses to predation threats than smaller, slower growing fish. Possible coupling between stress sensitivity and growth requires further attention due to the likely implications for the management of unintended domestication among captive-reared salmonids.
Data from: Dietary specialization is conditionally associated with increased ant predation risk in a temperate forest caterpillar community
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