Overcoming prey naiveté: Free‐living marsupials develop recognition and effective behavioral responses to alien predators in Australia

Abstract

Naiveté in prey arises from novel ecological mismatches in cue recognition systems and antipredator responses following the arrival of alien predators. The multilevel naiveté framework suggests that animals can progress through levels of naiveté toward predator awareness. Alternatively, native prey may be preadapted to recognize novel predators via common constituents in predator odors or familiar predator archetypes. We tested predictions of these competing hypotheses on the mechanisms driving behavioral responses of native species to alien predators by measuring responses of native free‐living northern brown bandicoots (Isoodon macrourus) to alien red fox (Vulpes vulpes) odor. We compared multiple bandicoot populations either sympatric or allopatric with foxes. Bandicoots sympatric with foxes showed recognition and appropriate antipredator behavior toward fox odor via avoidance. On the few occasions bandicoots did visit, their vigilance significantly increased, and their foraging decreased. In contrast, bandicoots allopatric with foxes showed no recognition of this predator cue. Our results suggest that vulnerable Australian mammals were likely naïve to foxes when they first arrived, which explains why so many native mammals declined soon after fox arrival. Our results also suggest such naiveté can be overcome within a relatively short time frame, driven by experience with predators, thus supporting the multilevel naiveté framework.

Competitive ability of native and alien plants: effects of residence time and invasion status

“…In contrast, evolutionary responses of native species to invaders are less frequently considered and most evidence involves animals (Strauss et al 2006). Thereby, high impacts of alien species are frequently explained by the native species being naïve with regards to the novel threat (which, however, can be overcome over time, for example, Bytheway and Banks 2019). The few studies investigating evolutionary adaptation to competition between plants have mostly focused on invasive plants that produce allelochemicals (Callaway et al 2005;Lankau 2012;Dostál et al 2013).…”

Responses to terrestrial nest predators by endemic and introduced Hawaiian birds

“…Some species of passerine birds have been shown to learn responses to novel predators in evolutionarily short time frames Maloney & McLean, 1995;Massaro et al, 2008), while others appear to have innate responses to novel predators (Veen, Richardson, Blaakmeer, & Komdeur, 2000). Mammals have also shown the ability to respond appropriately to novel predators after evolutionary short time frames (Bytheway & Banks, 2019), indicating this phenomenon is not unique to one taxonomic lineage. Our study cannot distinguish whether the endemic birds we studied had learned to recognize rats based on direct experience or whether an innate, genetically based response has been selected for over the last few Assuming the ancestors of endemic Hawaiian birds were able to recognize rats and snakes as predators, the loss of recognition of those predators occurred even though other predator types were present on the islands, indicating these responses may not follow the multipredator hypothesis.…”

Influences of roaming domestic cats on wildlife activity in patchy urban environments

“…If interactions between predator and prey are altered or novel, such as in urban ecosystems, there can be deleterious impacts to the prey species (Bridges, 1999;Carthey and Blumstein, 2018), that can cascade through the ecosystem (Brown et al, 2015), at least for an initial period. With time, repeat encounters with a stressor, such as a novel predator, can incite an adaptive response (West et al, 2018;Bytheway and Banks, 2019;Tay et al, 2021). However, when predation pressures are strong and persistent, as with numerous different predators in a novel system, they can deplete prey species' energy budgets for reproduction and health management either via energy exhaustion from repeat stress (i.e., the predation stress hypothesis: Moberg, 1991;Boonstra et al, 1998;Clinchy et al, 2004;Romero, 2004), or via reduced nutrition from foraging compromises (i.e., the predator-sensitive food hypothesis: Sinclair and Arcese, 1995;Brown and Kotler, 2004).…”