Effects of Predators on Prey Growth Rate: Relative Contributions of Thinning and Reduced Activity

Buskirk, Josh Van; Yurewicz, Kerry L.

doi:10.2307/3546913

Cited by 149 publications

(129 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Hence, density effects alone are unlikely to explain our results. In contrast, predator presence may reduce feeding activity and thereby slow growth rates of tadpoles (Van Buskirk and Yurewicz, 1998). This explanation would be likely if tadpoles had greater energy requirements at higher temperatures so that the effect of reduced feeding would be more pronounced compared with that in cooler environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Developmental thermal plasticity of prey modifies the impact of predation

Seebacher

Grigaltchik

2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Environmental conditions during embryonic development can influence the mean expression of phenotypes as well as phenotypic responses to environmental change later in life. The resulting phenotypes may be better matched to their environment and more resilient to environmental change, including human-induced climate change. However, whether plasticity does improve success in an ecological context is unresolved. In a microcosm experiment, we show that developmental plasticity in embryos of the frog Limnodynastes peronii is beneficial by increasing survivorship of tadpoles in the presence of predators when egg incubation (15 or 25°C) and tadpole acclimation temperature in microcosms (15 or 25°C) coincided at 15°C. Tadpoles that survived predation were smaller, and had faster burst swimming speeds than those kept in no-predator control conditions, but only at high (25°C) egg incubation or subsequent microcosm temperatures. Metabolic rates were determined by a three-way interaction between incubation and microcosm temperatures and predation; maximal glycolytic and mitochondrial metabolic capacities (enzyme activities) were lower in survivors from predation compared with controls, particularly when eggs were incubated at 25°C. We show that thermal conditions experienced during early development are ecologically relevant by modulating survivorship from predation. Importantly, developmental thermal plasticity also impacts population phenotypes indirectly by modifying species interactions and the selection pressure imposed by predation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Developmental thermal plasticity of prey modifies the impact of predation

Seebacher

Grigaltchik

2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Second, larvae that survive predation in natural ponds may experience release from competition and therefore grow and develop more rapidly (Slobodkin 1962, Wilbur 1988). This possibility also seems unlikely since the benefits from thinning will rarely compensate for the decreased probability of survival (Van Buskirk and Yurewicz 1998). We conclude that the predator-induced phenotype performs better than the no-predator phenotype in the presence of dragonflies, and that this difference would probably be enforced under natural conditions as well.…”

Section: Adaptive Plasticity: Environmental Heterogeneity and Individmentioning

confidence: 83%

Predator-Induced Phenotypic Plasticity in Larval Newts: Trade-Offs, Selection, and Variation in Nature

Buskirk¹,

Schmidt²

2000

Ecology

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Phenotypic plasticity has important ecological consequences because the strengths of species interactions can change with the behavior and morphology of interacting individuals. Evolutionary studies of plasticity can predict conditions under which shifts in phenotypes will occur and, therefore, may modify species interactions. We studied evolutionary mechanisms maintaining an induced response to predators in Triturus newt larvae, which are among many taxa in freshwater habitats exhibiting predator-induced plasticity. When exposed to caged (nonlethal) Aeshna dragonfly larvae, newts of two species (T. alpestris and T. helveticus) spent more time hiding in the leaf litter, had darker pigmentation in the tail fin, and developed larger heads and larger tails relative to their body size, in comparison with newts in predator-free ponds. The two phenotypes faced a performance trade-off across environments with and without odonates: the predator-induced phenotype survived twice as well as the no-predator phenotype when exposed to free dragonflies, but the predator-induced phenotype of both species grew more slowly until just before metamorphosis. For Triturus alpestris, a direct comparison of performance between phenotypes was complicated because predator-induced newts emerged later in the summer but at a larger body size. Nonrandom mortality imposed by hunting dragonflies caused selection favoring increasing tail size, but we found no selection on specific traits in predator-free ponds. Head shape was not subject to selection in either environment; we suspect that head shape is involved in consuming different prey in the presence and absence of predators and is unrelated to predator escape. Triturus in 25 natural populations from which we collected quantitative samples in 1997 and 1998 exhibited extreme spatial variation in predation regime (density of large predators ranged from 0 to 24 individuals/m2). Variation among populations in head shape was exactly as predicted by experimental results (Triturus of both species had relatively large heads when exposed to predators), but results for tail shape were consistent with the experiments in only one of the two years. The evolutionary mechanisms maintaining plasticity in Triturus and other amphibian larvae should apply to many organisms inhabiting freshwater ponds, so trait-mediated indirect effects seem especially likely to occur in these habitats. Abstract. Phenotypic plasticity has important ecological consequences because the strengths of species interactions can change with the behavior and morphology of interacting individuals. Evolutionary studies of plasticity can predict conditions under which shifts in phenotypes will occur and, therefore, may modify species interactions. We studied evolutionary mechanisms maintaining an induced response to predators in Triturus newt larvae, which are among many taxa in freshwater habitats exhibiting predator-induced plasticity. When exposed to caged (nonlethal) Aeshna dragonfly larvae, newts of two species (T. alpestris...

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“…Refuge environments are often nutrient poor (Holomuzki, 1986;Kohler and McPeek, 1989;Persson et al, 2000), and prey cease to forage for and consume food during evasion or avoidance (for a review, see Brown and Kotler, 2004). A reduction in energy consumption can negatively impact growth (Sih, 1987;Van Buskirk and Yurewicz, 1998;Nakaoka, 2000), health [e.g. resistance to parasites (Baker and Smith, 1997) and bacterial pathogens (Rigby and Jokela, 2000)] and reproductive success (Peckarsky et al, 1993;Loose and Dawidowicz, 1994;Peckarsky, 1996).…”

Section: Ecological Consequences Of Mixture Suppression and Context-mentioning

confidence: 99%

The scent of danger: arginine as an olfactory cue of reduced predation risk

Ferrer

Zimmer

2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY Animal perception of chemosensory cues is a function of ecological context. Larvae of the California newt (Taricha torosa), for example, exhibit predator-avoidance behavior in response to a chemical from cannibalistic adults. The poison tetrodotoxin (TTX), well known as an adult chemical defense, stimulates larval escape to refuges. Although they are cannibals,adult newts feed preferentially on worms (Eisenia rosea) over conspecific young. Hence, larval avoidance reactions to TTX are suppressed in the presence of odor from these alternative prey. The free amino acid,arginine, is abundant in fluids emitted by injured worms. Here, we demonstrate that arginine is a natural suppressant of TTX-stimulated larval escape behavior. Compared to a tapwater control, larvae initiated vigorous swimming in response to 10–7 mol l–1 TTX. This excitatory response was eliminated when larval nasal cavities were blocked with an inert gel, but not when gel was placed on the forehead (control). In additional trials, a binary mixture of arginine and 10–7 mol l–1 TTX failed to induce larval swimming. The inhibitory effect of arginine was, however, dose dependent. An arginine concentration as low as 0.3-times that of TTX was significantly suppressant. Further analysis showed that suppression by arginine of TTX-stimulated behavior was eliminated by altering the positively-charged guanidinium moiety, but not by modifying the carbon chain, carboxyl group, or amine group. These results are best explained by a mechanism of competitive inhibition between arginine and TTX for common, olfactory receptor binding sites. Although arginine alone has no impact on larval behavior, it nevertheless signals active adult predation on alternative prey, and hence, reduced cannibalism risk.

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Effects of Predators on Prey Growth Rate: Relative Contributions of Thinning and Reduced Activity

Cited by 149 publications

References 43 publications

Developmental thermal plasticity of prey modifies the impact of predation

Developmental thermal plasticity of prey modifies the impact of predation

Predator-Induced Phenotypic Plasticity in Larval Newts: Trade-Offs, Selection, and Variation in Nature

The scent of danger: arginine as an olfactory cue of reduced predation risk

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