The effects of embryonic experience with predation risk vary across a wave exposure gradient

Abstract

Gradients in environmental stress can alter the ecological effects of predation risk to create variable landscapes of fear that shape prey antipredator responses. Prey obtain information about their risk environment not only from their immediate experiences with predators, but also from their previous experiences, especially if they occur during particularly sensitive windows in ontogeny. Embryonic development is often a key window when an individual's experiences can have lasting effects on behavior and fitness. The propensity of embryonic experiences with predation risk to affect prey performance, however, may vary across gradients of abiotic stress. Using a rocky intertidal system, we explored whether a dominant abiotic stressor—wave exposure—modifies the influence of embryonic experience with predation risk (from the green crab, Carcinus maenas) on prey (the carnivorous snail, Nucella lapillus) traits both at emergence and as one‐year‐olds exposed to current predation risk. We found that snails from wave‐exposed, but not sheltered, populations emerged smaller from development and grew less in the absence of current risk as one‐year‐olds if they experienced risk as embryos. However, exposure to current predation risk reduced the growth and growth efficiency of one‐year‐old snails from both wave‐exposed and sheltered populations. Our results demonstrate that increased environmental stress can modify predator–prey interactions and enhance prey reliance on early life experiences with predation risk, but that direct exposure to risk later in life can strongly affect prey performance across environmental stress gradients.

Context‐dependent carryover effects of hypoxia and warming in a coastal ecosystem engineer

“…For example, previous exposure (either direct or indirect) to an environmental stressor can reduce the performance of organisms in later in life if their past and future environments are mismatched, but enhance fitness if the environments are matched (Sheriff and Love 2013, Bateson et al 2014). While some previous studies have evaluated the potential context‐dependency of early life carryover effects (e.g., Marshall et al 2010, Garcia et al 2017, Donelan and Trussell 2019), most explore these patterns without considering organisms' later environmental context, particularly whether current conditions match early life conditions (see O'Connor et al 2014). We therefore have limited understanding of how and when carryover effects are likely to be adaptive (Moore and Martin 2019), particularly with respect to stressors associated with climate change.…”

“…For example, in Tribolium beetles, low larval habitat quality significantly reduced adult survival, but only when adults dispersed to low, and not high, quality habitats (Van Allen and Rudolf 2013). The importance of such environmental matching has been well‐documented in other latent effects (e.g., parental effects; Sheriff and Love 2013), but is rarely tested for within‐generation carryover effects (but see Hettinger et al 2012, Donelan and Trussell 2019). Indeed, we know surprisingly little about the potential for early life stressors to modify the response of organisms to those same stressors later in life, particularly in species of management concern.…”

Legacy of past exposure to hypoxia and warming regulates ecosystem service provided by oysters

“…Not only were carryover effects persistent, affecting oysters one year after initial exposure, but they varied across the life cycle (36), suggesting that impacts on nitrogen removal may further vary by life stage or time since initial exposure to stress. Our research demonstrates the need to incorporate carryover effects not only into assessments of individual and population performance as others have done (e.g., 49,50), but also into assessments of ecosystem function and service provisioning. Such steps will be challenging, but critical, to accurately assess the impact of climate change in natural systems.…”

Sex‐specific differences in the response of prey to predation risk

“…We also quantified the impact of predation risk on prey fecundity. Snails ( N = 48) were collected from a wave‐exposed rocky headland (Donelan & Trussell, 2019) in Nahant, Massachusetts and held in the running seawater facilities at the Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts for 3 months prior to the start of the experiment. During this time, males and females were kept separately and given ad libitum food (blue mussels Mytilus edulis ).…”