Functional Traits and Trait-Mediated Interactions

Schmitz, Oswald J.; Buchkowski, Robert W.; Burghardt, Karin T.; Donihue, Colin M.

doi:10.1016/bs.aecr.2015.01.003

Cited by 74 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Although it was the only model in which it was detected, SEM1 indicated a direct negative effect of taxonomic richness on predation rates. This suggests that there might be negative interactions that contribute to limit predation rates that are non‐mediated by the mean biomass and trophic interactions but by other functional traits and non‐trophic interactions (Schmitz et al., 2015). Evidently, other processes such as changes in behaviour of predators due to avoidance or interference may also contribute to the release of top‐down control of pests when large biomass species are present in the community (Michalko & Pekar, 2017; Soares & Serpa, 2007).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shape of the predator biomass distribution affects biological pest control services in agricultural landscapes

et al. 2020

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1. Understanding how community composition of service-providing organisms affects ecosystem functioning is a key challenge in ecology. Although it has been proposed that taxonomic diversity and functional traits mediate this relationship, how several facets of community structure affect the delivery of key ecosystem services remains to be explored. 2. In this study, we investigated how abundance, taxonomic richness as well as the shape of biomass distribution in predator communities affect biological pest control services in vineyard landscapes. Our analyses were based on a dataset com

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The shape of the predator biomass distribution affects biological pest control services in agricultural landscapes

et al. 2020

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“…Animal foraging mode is a functional trait (sensu Schmitz, Buchkowski, Burghardt, & Donihue, 2015) with the potential to have cascading effects on the dynamics of an ecosystem (Bolnick et al, 2011;Schmitz, 2008). This study demonstrates that intraspecific foraging mode variability can result in differential invertebrate predation between adjacent habitats on the Greek Island of Naxos and opens the question for future study of whether those predation differences cascade to affect plants and broader ecological dynamics on these islands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Aegean wall lizards switch foraging modes, diet, and morphology in a human‐built environment

Donihue

2016

Ecology and Evolution

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Foraging mode is a functional trait with cascading impacts on ecological communities. The foraging syndrome hypothesis posits a suite of concurrent traits that vary with foraging mode; however, comparative studies testing this hypothesis are typically interspecific. While foraging modes are often considered typological for a species when predicting foraging‐related traits or mode‐specific cascading impacts, intraspecific mode switching has been documented in some lizards. Mode‐switching lizards provide an opportunity to test foraging syndromes and explore how intraspecific variability in foraging mode might affect local ecological communities.Because lizard natural history is intimately tied to habitat use and structure, I tested for mode switching between populations of the Aegean wall lizard, Podarcis erhardii, inhabiting undisturbed habitat and human‐built rock walls on the Greek island of Naxos. I observed foraging behavior among 10 populations and tested lizard morphological and performance predictions at each site. Furthermore, I investigated the diet of lizards at each site relative to the available invertebrate community.I found that lizards living on rock walls were significantly more sedentary—sit and wait—than lizards at nonwall sites. I also found that head width increased in females and the ratio of hindlimbs to forelimbs in both sexes increased as predicted. Diet also changed, with nonwall lizards consuming a higher proportion of sedentary prey. Lizard bite force also varied significantly between sites; however, the pattern observed was opposite to that predicted, suggesting that bite force in these lizards may more closely relate to intraspecific competition than to diet.This study demonstrates microgeographic variability in lizard foraging mode as a result of human land use. In addition, these results demonstrate that foraging mode syndromes can shift intraspecifically with potential cascading effects on local ecological communities.

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“…Functional trait approaches in ecology offer a way to mechanistically understand the link between the evolutionary ecology of organisms and their impacts on communities and ecosystems (Litchman & Klausmeier, 2008;McGill et al, 2006;Schmitz et al, 2015;Violle et al, 2007). These approaches have largely proceeded using the population mean value of the functional trait, but this may be insufficient given that trait variation among individuals within a population can lead to altogether different outcomes than would be expected based on the population mean alone (Figure 1; Benesh & Kalbe, 2016;Bolnick et al, 2011;Okuyama, 2008;Pettorelli et al, 2015;Post et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differences in prey personality mediate trophic cascades

Sommer

Schmitz

2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Functional trait approaches in ecology chiefly assume the mean trait value of a population adequately predicts the outcome of species interactions. Yet this assumption ignores substantial trait variation among individuals within a population, which can have a profound effect on community structure and function. We explored individual trait variation through the lens of animal personality to test whether among‐individual variation in prey behavior mediates trophic interactions. We quantified the structure of personalities within a population of generalist grasshoppers and examined, through a number of field and laboratory‐based experiments, how personality types could impact tri‐trophic interactions in a food chain. Unlike other studies of this nature, we used spatial habitat domains to evaluate how personality types mechanistically map to behaviors relevant in predator–prey dynamics and found shy and bold individuals differed in both their habitat use and foraging strategy under predation risk by a sit‐and‐wait spider predator. In the field‐based mesocosm portion of our study, we found experimental populations of personality types differed in their trophic impact, demonstrating that prey personality can mediate trophic cascades. We found no differences in respiration rates or body size between personality types used in the mesocosm experiment, indicating relative differences in trophic impact were not due to variation in prey physiology but rather variation in behavioral strategies. Our work demonstrates how embracing the complexity of individual trait variation can offer mechanistically richer understanding of the processes underlying trophic interactions.

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Functional Traits and Trait-Mediated Interactions

Cited by 74 publications

References 89 publications

The shape of the predator biomass distribution affects biological pest control services in agricultural landscapes

The shape of the predator biomass distribution affects biological pest control services in agricultural landscapes

Aegean wall lizards switch foraging modes, diet, and morphology in a human‐built environment

Differences in prey personality mediate trophic cascades

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