Vegetation structure mediates a shift in predator avoidance behavior in a range-edge population

Johnston, Cora A.; Smith, Rachel S.

doi:10.1093/beheco/ary075

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Together, these findings raise two possibilities: Missing legs has no impact on survival at all, or there is behavioral and/or mechanical compensation to alleviate these costs. For example, after autotomy, harvestmen could be deciding to roost on substrates such as the mossy trees that provide more crypsis from predators, as found for other animals (Cooper, 2007;Houghton et al, 2011;Johnston & Smith, 2018;Stoks, 1999). However, our data do not allow distinguish these possibilities.…”

Section: Autotomy and Future Survivalmentioning

confidence: 82%

The type of leg lost affects habitat use but not survival in a non‐regenerating arthropod

Escalante

Elias

2021

Ecology and Evolution

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Section: Autotomy and Future Survivalmentioning

confidence: 82%

The type of leg lost affects habitat use but not survival in a non‐regenerating arthropod

Escalante

Elias

2021

Ecology and Evolution

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“…If crabs do find thermal shelter in the water, a strategy used to limit overheating in the summer [12], they could still experience increased mortality as aquatic predation on A . pisonii is high, particularly in the salt marsh [45]. Thus, even if crabs in the marsh can retreat to warmer water, the warmer aerial conditions under docks likely force this retreat less often, reducing secondary impacts of predation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An artificial habitat facilitates a climate-mediated range expansion into a suboptimal novel ecosystem

Cannizzo

Griffen

2019

PLoS ONE

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As the geographic ranges of tropical species and ecosystems continue to shift poleward with climate change, it is critical to prediction and management to identify factors that facilitate these expansions. This is especially true for range shifts that involve the decoupling of a shifting species from its historic ecosystem and the colonization of an ecosystem that it has not previously inhabited (i.e. is novel to the shifting species). In cases where the colonized ecosystem is suboptimal for the shifting species, stepping stone refuges may play a critical role in facilitating further expansion. Here we document the facilitation of the northward range expansion of the mangrove tree crab ( Aratus pisonii ) into the previously uninhabited salt marsh ecosystem by artificial boat docks. While the cold tolerance of crabs did not differ between habitats, they were found on docks 36 km and 22 km further north than elsewhere in the salt marsh after the winters of 2016-‘17 and ‘17-’18, respectively. This extended range-edge appears to be a result of docks within the salt marsh acting as a stepping stone refuge by providing this historically tropical species with a relatively warm thermal refuge during the winter that mitigates seasonal population die-backs exhibited elsewhere at the range-edge. Further, population abundances were higher on docks at the range-edge than in the surrounding salt marsh. While artificial habitats often favor the expansion of non-indigenous species, our results demonstrate the facilitation of a native species’ range shift into a suboptimal ecosystem which it has not previously inhabited. The potential for analogous and refuge habitats, artificial or otherwise, to increase the rate and success of range shifts could be critical to the fate of many current and future range shifting species.

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“…Interactions on mangrove structure were more likely to include the low-cost shield posturing than other structure types where crabs progressed more quickly to higher-cost behaviors. Losing competitors were also less likely to mount a conciliatory retreat on marsh structure than mangroves, possibly due to the reduced structural area provided by marsh grasses for retreat/evasion behaviors [33] and potentially increasing the possibility of reigniting the interaction. These reductions of ritual complexity and tendencies to progress more quickly to higher-cost behaviors could increase the chance of injury and energetic cost of the interaction [34] thus negating some of the benefit of ritualizing aggressive behavior.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A competitor was more likely to fall into the water on dock and marsh structure than the mangrove, likely due in part to the decreased footing they provide (low surface area on marsh structure, vertical nature of docks). This would elevate the potential danger of an interaction by increasing the chance that one or both competitors are exposed to aquatic predation, which is also higher in the colonized ecosystem [33]. Thus, as instigators of interactions are more likely to win independent of their size or habitat of origin, and as longer interactions are more likely to result in the loser falling into the water, the higher danger of interactions on marsh and dock structure may encourage crabs to act more aggressively in the interest of increasing their chance of victory [31,32].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual Morphology and Habitat Structure Alter Social Interactions in a Range-Shifting Species

et al. 2019

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Ecosystem engineers that serve as foundation species shape the ecology and behavior of the species which depend on them. As species shift their geographic ranges into ecosystems they have not previously inhabited, it is important to understand how interactions with novel foundation species alter their behavior. By employing behavioral assays and morphological analyses, we examined how individual morphology and foundation species structure impact the ritualistic aggression behavior of the range shifting mangrove tree crab Aratus pisonii between its historic and colonized habitats. Structure of the foundation species of the colonized salt marsh ecosystem increases the incidence and risk of this behavior over the historic mangrove habitat, potentially negating benefits of ritualizing aggression. Further, docks within the salt marsh, which are structurally analogous to mangroves, mitigate some, but not all, of the increased costs of performing ritualized aggression. Crabs in the salt marsh also had relatively larger claws than conspecifics from the dock and mangrove habitats, which has implications for the risk and outcomes of ritualized interactions. These changes to morphology and behavior highlight the impacts that foundation species structure can have on the morphology, ecology, and behavior of organisms and the importance of studying these impacts in range shifting species.

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Vegetation structure mediates a shift in predator avoidance behavior in a range-edge population

Cited by 13 publications

References 34 publications

The type of leg lost affects habitat use but not survival in a non‐regenerating arthropod

The type of leg lost affects habitat use but not survival in a non‐regenerating arthropod

An artificial habitat facilitates a climate-mediated range expansion into a suboptimal novel ecosystem

Individual Morphology and Habitat Structure Alter Social Interactions in a Range-Shifting Species

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