Journal
PEERJ
Volume 3, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
PEERJ INC
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.1426
Keywords
Chemical ecology; Non-consumptive effects; Risk sensitive behavior; Oysters; Blue crabs; Risk assessment; Trophic cascades
Categories
Funding
- NSF grant BIO OCE [1234449]
- NSF REU in Aquatic Chemical Ecology
- Directorate For Geosciences
- Division Of Ocean Sciences [1234449] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
We examined whether chemically mediated risk perception by prey and the effects of changes in prey behavior on basal resources vary as a function of the amount of prey biomass consumed by the predator. We studied these issues using a tritrophic system composed of blue crabs, Callinectes sapidus (top predator), mud crabs Panopeus herbstii (intermediate prey), and oysters Crassostrea virginica (basal resource). Working in a well characterized field environment where experiments preserve natural patterns of water flow, we found that biomass consumed by a predator determines the range, intensity and nature of prey aversive responses. Predators that consume large amounts of prey flesh more strongly diminish consumption of basal resources by prey and exert effects over a larger range (in space and time) compared to predators that have eaten less. Less well-fed predators produce weaker effects, with the consequence that behaviorally mediated cascades preferentially occur in refuge habitats. Well-fed predators affected prey behavior and increased basal resources up to distances of 1-1.5 m, whereas predators fed restricted diet evoked changes in prey only when they were extremely close, typically 50 cm or less. Thus, consumptive and non-consumptive effects may be coupled; predators that have a greater degree of predatory success will affect prey traits more strongly and non-consumptive and consumptive effects may fluctuate in tandem, with some lag. Moreover, differences among predators in their degree of prey capture will create spatial and temporal variance in risk cue availability in the absence of underlying environmental effects.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available