Fear Mediates Trophic Cascades: Nonconsumptive Effects of Predators Drive Aquatic Ecosystem Function

Breviglieri, Crasso Paulo Bosco; Oliveira, Paulo S.; Romero, Gustavo Q.

doi:10.1086/691262

Cited by 27 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…, Breviglieri et al. ). Understanding how flocking species influence species coexistence in hyper‐diverse tropical forests may provide insight into the conservation of remaining intact areas as well as recovery of sites subject to deforestation and degradation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Fear‐based niche shifts in neotropical birds

Martínez

Parra

Muellerklein

et al. 2018

Ecology

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Predation is a strong ecological force that shapes animal communities through natural selection. Recent studies have shown the cascading effects of predation risk on ecosystems through changes in prey behavior. Minimizing predation risk may explain why multiple prey species associate together in space and time. For example, mixed-species flocks that have been widely documented from forest systems, often include birds that eavesdrop on sentinel species (alarm calling heterospecifics). Sentinel species may be pivotal in (1) allowing flocking species to forage in open areas within forests that otherwise incur high predation risk, and (2) influencing flock occurrence (the amount of time species spend with a flock). To test this, we conducted a short-term removal experiment in an Amazonian lowland rainforest to test whether flock habitat use and flock occurrence was influenced by sentinel presence. Antshrikes (genus Thamnomanes) act as sentinels in Amazonian mixed-species flocks by providing alarm calls widely used by other flock members. The alarm calls provide threat information about ambush predators such as hawks and falcons which attack in flight. We quantified home range behavior, the forest vegetation profile used by flocks, and the proportion occurrence of other flocking species, both before and after removal of antshrikes from flocks. We found that when sentinel species were removed, (1) flock members shifted habitat use to lower risk habitats with greater vegetation cover, and (2) species flock occurrence decreased. We conclude that eavesdropping on sentinel species may allow other species to expand their realized niche by allowing them to safely forage in high-risk habitats within the forest. In allowing species to use extended parts of the forest, sentinel species may influence overall biodiversity across a diverse landscape.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Fear‐based niche shifts in neotropical birds

Martínez

Parra

Muellerklein

et al. 2018

Ecology

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“…The bromeliads of the experiment remained exposed for natural colonization by the invertebrate community for 155 d, from February 6 to July 10, 2014 (see details in Romero and Srivastava , Breviglieri et al. ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This method of bromeliad screening has been used before (see Romero and Srivastava , Breviglieri et al. for details). We recorded the size, abundance, and richness of morphospecies of all aquatic invertebrates visible to the naked eye (>0.5 mm).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, Breviglieri et al. ). For example, predators that forage in ecotones can intercept organisms that have complex life cycles (see Werner ), and so exert predation pressure in adjacent ecosystem via top‐down effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…) via DMII, or when birds inhibit oviposition rates of terrestrial predators in aquatic ecosystems via TMII (Breviglieri et al. ). On the other hand, they can also influence adjacent ecosystems via bottom‐up effects, by intercepting adult organisms that oviposit in aquatic systems, thus reducing the abundance of larvae in adjacent systems (Marczak et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Terrestrial vertebrate predators drive the structure and functioning of aquatic food webs

Breviglieri

Romero

2017

Ecology

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Predators that forage at boundaries between ecosystems can affect prey from adjacent ecosystems, thereby triggering consumptive and non-consumptive cascading effects, which may affect diversity and food web structure across ecosystems. In the present study, we manipulated the access of insectivorous birds, lizards, and anurans to tank bromeliads in scrub vegetation in southern Brazil. We measured cascading effects on the community structure of aquatic invertebrates inhabiting bromeliad leaves and on the ecosystem processes of decomposition rate and bromeliad growth. The exclusion of terrestrial vertebrate predators increased the biomass of Odonate and Tabanid apex predators, which shifted the body size structure of the assemblage and generated inverted biomass pyramids that were top-heavy. Within bromeliads with larger aquatic predators, the species composition and abundance of other aquatic invertebrates also changed, resulting in higher abundance of mesopredators and scrapers, and lower abundance of shredders. Under those conditions, the detritus decomposition rate decreased, and bromeliads produced more leaves, perhaps because of the higher deposition of nitrogenous waste by mesopredators. Our results highlight that the effects of terrestrial vertebrate predators can propagate across aquatic ecosystems, altering species composition, body size structure, food web organization, and ecosystem function.

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Complex multi‐predator effects on demographic habitat selection and community assembly in colonizing aquatic insects

Resetarits

Pintar

Bohenek

2021

Ecological Monographs

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Running the gauntlet of predators consumes critical time and energy resources, as all species are vulnerable to one or, typically, more predators at some life stage. Prey employ a vast array of mechanisms to avoid predation, and predators, likewise, come in a bewildering variety. Thus, defensive adaptations are rarely one size fits all. Considerable work has addressed multi-predator consumptive effects, but we now know that non-consumptive effects of predators can dramatically impact individuals, (meta)populations, and (meta)communities. However, little is known regarding the community-wide dynamics of non-consumptive effects generated by multiple predators. Predator avoidance by choosing a patch that is free of a particular predator or predators can be the most effective strategy if conditions at colonization are a reliable predictor of absence, which is often true for fish in freshwater systems. We experimentally manipulated composition of the predator assemblage in aquatic mesocosms in a substitutive design, with zero, one, two, or three caged predatory fish species (one benthic, one pelagic, and one surface fish) at constant density and biomass, and assayed responses of naturally colonizing aquatic insects. We addressed three related questions; first, how do members of a diverse assemblage of colonizing aquatic insects respond to this variation in species and species combinations, second, do individual species (and higher taxa), respond differently to single vs. multiple predator species (species richness), and third how do any responses to fish species and species combinations, and effects on species richness, translate into community-wide changes in the composition of colonists. Prey had varied responses to specific predators or combinations of predators, resulting in distinct community composition across treatments and higher β-diversity with predators. Prey showed emergent multi-predator effects, where certain species only responded to predator species combinations, but not to any individual predator, and stronger effects of multiple predator vs. single-predator treatments, despite strong responses to individual predators in many taxa. Habitat selection effects can range from the individual to the metacommunity, and the dynamics of habitat selection in response to predators is a complex function of predator identity, density, richness, species composition, and patch spatial context.

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Fear Mediates Trophic Cascades: Nonconsumptive Effects of Predators Drive Aquatic Ecosystem Function

Cited by 27 publications

References 47 publications

Fear‐based niche shifts in neotropical birds

Fear‐based niche shifts in neotropical birds

Terrestrial vertebrate predators drive the structure and functioning of aquatic food webs

Complex multi‐predator effects on demographic habitat selection and community assembly in colonizing aquatic insects

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