Increased habitat structure does not always provide increased refuge from predation

Mattila, Johanna; Heck, Kenneth L.; Millstein, Erika; Miller, E. H.; Gustafsson, Camilla; Williams, Savannah; Byron, Dorothy

doi:10.3354/meps07392

Cited by 53 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Therefore variability in prey survival with seagrass structure may be due both to effects of structure on predator foraging success, and to variation in prey or predator density and community composition with structure. For instance, prey survival did not increase with seagrass structural complexity when prey and predator densities were experimentally increased with structural complexity (Mattila et al 2008; see also Canion & Heck 2009), which contrasts the results of numerous studies using constant densities of prey and predators across gradients of habitat structure. Variability in organismal densities with habitat structure therefore should be considered when designing experiments to test for effects of habitat structure on survival (Mattila et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 46%

“…Specifically, we found that prey survival only increased with eelgrass structural complexity when prey density also increased with structural complexity, and that prey density modified the effects of structural complexity on several components of predator-prey interactions, including encounter rates and decisions by predators to attack prey. Our results suggest that mechanisms by which habitat structure appears to influence predator-prey interactions should not be taken for granted, and that it is important to consider factors that often covary with habitat structure in nature, such as organismal densities and behaviors, when assessing the outcomes of predator-prey interactions in structurally complex habitats (Savino & Stein 1982, Ryer 1988, Mattila et al 2008, Stoner 2009). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, our conclusions regarding prey survival may have differed had we increased predator density along with prey density and eelgrass structural complexity. What is important to conclude from our study as well as from Mattila et al (2008) and Canion & Heck (2009) is that the effects of seagrass habitat structure on prey survival depend on organismal densities as well as on structural complexity.…”

Section: Prey Survival Prey Density and Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using shrimp (Palaemonetes pugio) as prey and pinfish Lagodon rhomboides as predators, Mattila et al (2008) and Canion & Heck (2009) found that prey survival did not increase with simulated seagrass (Thalassia tes- tudinum) structural complexity in laboratory experiments in which prey and predator densities both were increased with structural complexity. These results led Mattila et al (2008) and Canion & Heck (2009) to suggest that high levels of seagrass structural complexity may not enhance prey survival as commonly as believed, because prey and predator densities often increase with structural complexity in naturally occurring seagrass habitat. We chose to hold predator density constant in our experiments because we wanted to focus on the interactive effects of structural complexity and prey density, which commonly covary in seagrass habitat.…”

Section: Prey Survival Prey Density and Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…effects of habitat on predator functional response; Lipcius & Hines 1986, Sponaugle & Lawton 1990, Moksnes et al 1997, Seitz et al 2001) far fewer studies have addressed the converse (i.e. how variable prey density influences effects of habitat structure on prey survival; Mattila et al 2008). In one of the few studies that tested relative effects of structural complexity and prey density on predator foraging efficiency, Gotceitas & Colgan (1990) found that rates of predator (bluegill sunfish) consumption of damselfly nymph prey were higher in simulated aquatic vegetated habitat with high levels of prey density, even when high prey density patches had 5-fold higher stem density than low prey density patches.…”

Section: Prey Survival Prey Density and Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variable prey density modifies the effects of seagrass habitat structure on predator−prey interactions

Lannin¹,

Hovel²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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In seagrass habitats, high structural complexity often enhances prey survival by reducing predator-prey encounter rates and predator foraging success. However, faunal density and biomass typically increase with seagrass structural complexity, such that variation in prey or predator density may contribute to or alter relationships between structural complexity and prey survival. We determined whether variability in prey density alters relationships between seagrass structural complexity and (1) prey survival, (2) predator-prey encounter rates, and (3) behavioral components of predator-prey interactions in eelgrass Zostera marina habitat. Using transplanted eelgrass in laboratory mesocosms, we compared trends in meso predator (juvenile giant kelpfish Heterostichus rostratus) feeding success and behavior, and predator avoidance behavior by prey (grass shrimp Hippolyte californiensis) between experiments in which we (1) held prey density constant while increasing eelgrass shoot density, or (2) increased prey density while increasing eelgrass shoot density. We found that increasing prey density (but not eelgrass density) enhanced proportional prey survival and decreased the probability that mesopredators would attack prey, whereas increasing eelgrass density (but not prey density) decreased the likelihood that prey would attempt to escape from mesopredator attack. Predator-prey encounter rates were influenced both by prey density and eelgrass density, whereas mesopredator attack success was not influenced by either eelgrass density or prey density. Our results suggest that variable prey density modifies relationships between habitat structure and prey survival through a variety of behavioral mechanisms, and that factors that covary with habitat structure, such as prey density, may alter the effects of habitat structure on predation.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 46%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Prey Survival Prey Density and Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Prey Survival Prey Density and Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Prey Survival Prey Density and Structural Complexitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Variable prey density modifies the effects of seagrass habitat structure on predator−prey interactions

Lannin¹,

Hovel²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Latitude, temperature, and habitat complexity predict predation pressure in eelgrass beds across the Northern Hemisphere

Reynolds

Stachowicz

Hovel

et al. 2018

Ecology

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Abstract. Latitudinal gradients in species interactions are widely cited as potential causes or consequences of global patterns of biodiversity. However, mechanistic studies documenting changes in interactions across broad geographic ranges are limited. We surveyed predation intensity on common prey (live amphipods and gastropods) in communities of eelgrass (Zostera marina) at 48 sites across its Northern Hemisphere range, encompassing over 37°of latitude and four continental coastlines. Predation on amphipods declined with latitude on all coasts but declined more strongly along western ocean margins where temperature gradients are steeper. Whereas in situ water temperature at the time of the experiments was uncorrelated with predation, mean annual temperature strongly positively predicted predation, suggesting a more complex mechanism than simply increased metabolic activity at the time of predation. This large-scale biogeographic pattern was modified by local habitat characteristics; predation declined with higher shoot density both among and within sites. Predation rates on gastropods, by contrast, were uniformly low and varied little among sites. The high replication and geographic extent of our study not only provides additional evidence to support biogeographic variation in predation intensity, but also insight into the mechanisms that relate temperature and biogeographic gradients in species interactions.

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Joint effects of patch edges and habitat degradation on faunal predation risk in a widespread marine foundation species

Hovel

Duffy

Stachowicz

et al. 2021

Ecology

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Human activities degrade and fragment coastal marine habitats, reducing their structural complexity and making habitat edges a prevalent seascape feature. Though habitat edges frequently are implicated in reduced faunal survival and biodiversity, results of experiments on edge effects have been inconsistent, calling for a mechanistic approach to the study of edges that explicitly includes indirect and interactive effects of habitat alteration at multiple scales across biogeographic gradients. We used an experimental network spanning 17 eelgrass (Zostera marina) sites across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and the Mediterranean Sea to determine (1) if eelgrass edges consistently increase faunal predation risk, (2) whether edge effects on predation risk are altered by habitat degradation (shoot thinning), and (3) whether variation in the strength of edge effects among sites can be explained by biogeographical variability in covarying eelgrass habitat features. Contrary to expectations, at most sites, predation risk for tethered crustaceans (crabs or shrimps) was lower along patch edges than in patch interiors, regardless of the extent of habitat degradation. However, the extent to which edges reduced predation risk, compared to the patch interior, was correlated with the extent to which edges supported higher eelgrass structural complexity and prey biomass compared to patch interiors. This suggests an indirect component to edge effects in which the impact of edge proximity on predation risk is mediated by the effect of edges on other key biotic factors. Our results suggest that studies on edge effects should consider structural characteristics of patch edges, which may vary geographically, and multiple ways that humans degrade habitats.

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Increased habitat structure does not always provide increased refuge from predation

Cited by 53 publications

References 31 publications

Variable prey density modifies the effects of seagrass habitat structure on predator−prey interactions

Variable prey density modifies the effects of seagrass habitat structure on predator−prey interactions

Latitude, temperature, and habitat complexity predict predation pressure in eelgrass beds across the Northern Hemisphere

Joint effects of patch edges and habitat degradation on faunal predation risk in a widespread marine foundation species

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