scholarly journals Relaxed risk of predation drives parallel evolution of stickleback behaviour

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antoine Fraimout ◽  
Elisa Päiviö ◽  
Juha Merilä
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Parallel Evolution ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Pungitius Pungitius ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Selective Agents ◽  
Habitat Similarity ◽  
Evolution By Natural Selection

The occurrence of similar phenotypes in multiple independent populations (viz. parallel evolution) is a testimony of evolution by natural selection. Parallel evolution implies that populations share a common phenotypic response to a common selection pressure associated with habitat similarity. Examples of parallel evolution at the genetic and phenotypic levels are fairly common, but the driving selective agents often remain elusive. Similarly, the role of phenotypic plasticity in facilitating early stages of parallel evolution is unclear. We investigated whether the relaxation of predation pressure associated with the colonization of freshwater ponds by nine-spined sticklebacks (Pungitius pungitius) likely explains the divergence in complex behaviours between marine and pond populations, and whether this divergence is parallel. Using laboratory-raised individuals exposed to different levels of perceived predation risk, we calculated vectors of phenotypic divergence for four behavioural traits between habitats and predation risk treatments. We found a significant correlation between the directions of evolutionary divergence and phenotypic plasticity, suggesting that habitat divergence in behaviour is aligned with the response to relaxation of predation pressure. Finally, we show that this alignment is found across multiple pairs of populations, and that the relaxation of predation pressure has likely driven parallel evolution of behaviour in this species.

Do changes in reef habitats influence relative predation risk on the juvenile Australasian spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875)?

Crustaceana ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 88 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 839-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Hesse ◽  
J. A. Stanley ◽  
A. G. Jeffs
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Spiny Lobster ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Small Spatial Scale ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Early Juvenile ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Jasus Edwardsii ◽  
Commercially Important

Kelp habitats are in decline in many temperate coastal regions of the world due to climate change and expansion of populations of grazing urchins. The loss of kelp habitat may influence the vulnerability to predators of the juveniles of commercially important species. In this study relative predation rates for kelp versus barren reef habitat were measured for early juvenile Australasian spiny lobster, Jasus edwardsii (Hutton, 1875), on the northeastern coast of New Zealand using tethering methods. Variation in assemblages of predators over small spatial scales appeared to be more important for determining the relative predation of lobsters, regardless of habitat type. Therefore, the assessment of relative predation risk to early juvenile lobsters between kelp and barren habitats will require more extensive sampling at a small spatial scale, as well as a specific focus on sampling during crepuscular and nocturnal periods when these lobsters are most at risk of predation.

Behavioural responses of voles to simulated risk of predation by a native and an alien mustelid: an odour manipulation experiment

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Fey ◽  
Peter B. Banks ◽  
Hannu Ylönen ◽  
Erkki Korpimäki
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Myodes Glareolus ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Alien Predator ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Impact

Context. Potential mammalian prey commonly use the odours of their co-evolved predators to manage their risks of predation. But when the risk comes from an unknown source of predation, odours might not be perceived as dangerous, and anti-predator responses may fail, except possibly if the alien predator is of the same archetype as a native predator. Aims. In the present study we examined anti-predator behavioural responses of voles from the outer archipelagos of the Baltic Sea, south-western Finland, where they have had no resident mammalian predators in recent history. Methods. We investigated responses of field voles (Microtus agrestis) to odours of native least weasels (Mustela nivalis) and a recently invading alien predator, the American mink (Mustela vison), in laboratory. We also studied the short-term responses of free-ranging field voles and bank voles (Myodes glareolus) to simulated predation risk by alien mink on small islands in the outer archipelago of the Baltic Sea. Key results. In the laboratory, voles avoided odour cues of native weasel but not of alien mink. It is possible that the response to mink is a context dependent learned response which could not be induced in the laboratory, whereas the response to weasel is innate. In the field, however, voles reduced activity during their normal peak-activity times at night as a response to simulated alien-mink predation risk. No other shifts in space use or activity in safer microhabitats or denser vegetation were apparent. Conclusions. Voles appeared to recognise alien minks as predators from their odours in the wild. However, reduction in activity is likely to be only a short-term immediate response to mink presence, which is augmented by longer-term strategies of habitat shift. Because alien mink still strongly suppresses vole dynamics despite these anti-predator responses, we suggest that behavioural naiveté may be the primary factor in the impact of an alien predator on native prey. Implications. Prey naiveté has long been considered as the root cause of the devastating impacts of alien predators, whereby native prey simply fail to recognise and respond to the novel predation risk. Our results reveal a more complex form of naiveté whereby native prey appeared to recognise alien predators as a threat but their response is ultimately inadequate. Thus, recognition alone is unlikely to afford protection for native prey from alien-predator impacts. Thus, management strategies that, for example, train prey in recognition of novel threats must induce effective responses if they are expected to succeed.

scholarly journals Predation Risk by Gastronomic Boom - Case Peru

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-103
Author(s):  
Aldo Alvarez-Risco ◽  
Jaime Delgado-Zegarra ◽  
Jaime A. Yáñez ◽  
Santiago Diaz-Risco ◽  
Shyla Del-Aguila-Arcentales
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Significant Damage

Abstract The growth of tourism to Peru and the gastronomic boom with millions of people looking to taste Peruvian food is resulting in a risk of predation of natural sources necessary to make these dishes. The focus in only obtaining these ingredients can generate significant damage to the Peruvian biodiversity, so stakeholders need to develop strategies to avoid predation due to the gastronomic boom. Citizens and visitors need to play a role in protecting the natural resources and contributing to environmental sustainability.

Developmental costs of yellow colouration in fire salamanders and experiments to test the efficiency of yellow as a warning colouration

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Caspers ◽  
E. Tobias Krause ◽  
Isabelle Hermanski ◽  
Christopher Wiesbrock ◽  
Friedrich-Wilhelm Kastrup ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Carabid Beetles ◽  
Colour Pattern ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Yellow Colour ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Fire Salamander ◽  
Food Conditions ◽  
In Fire ◽  
Salamander Larvae

Abstract Warning colouration reduces predation risk by signalling or mimicking the unpleasantness of prey and therefore increases survival. We tested in two experiments the evolutionary costs and benefits of the yellow colour pattern in fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra), which display a yellow/black colour pattern usually associated with toxic alkaloids. Our first experiment aimed to test whether the development of colouration is condition dependent and thus related to developmental costs, i.e. influenced by resource availability during the developmental process. Therefore, we reared fire salamander larvae under different nutritional conditions and compared the relative amount of yellow they developed after metamorphosis. Fire salamander larvae reared under limited food conditions had a lower proportion of yellow following metamorphosis than control larvae reared under superior food conditions. In a second experiment we tested whether the proportion of yellow has an impact on the risk of being attacked using artificial models. We tested, in salamander-free and salamander-occupied natural habitats, whether artificial clay models with different proportions of yellow and black receive different attack rates from potential predators (birds, mammals, insects). In clay models the proportion of yellow and the site had a significant effect on predation risk. Models with larger amounts of yellow had fewer bite marks from predators such as carabid beetles and birds, but only in sympatry with salamanders. In conclusion, the early expression of conspicuous colouration seems to be condition dependent and therefore potentially costly. Furthermore, the yellow colouration of fire salamanders act as a signal that potentially reduces their risk of being attacked by predators. Thus, the yellow colouration of fire salamanders seems to represent an adaptive trait that reduces the risk of predation, which can be expressed in higher quantity by individuals of a certain condition.

scholarly journals Predation selects for smaller eye size in a vertebrate: effects of environmental conditions and sex

2019 ◽  
Vol 286 (1897) ◽  
pp. 20182625 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Svanbäck ◽  
Frank Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Retinal Image ◽  
The Other ◽  
Eye Size ◽  
Fish Predators ◽  
Resource Levels

Increased eye size in animals results in a larger retinal image and thus improves visual acuity. Thus, larger eyes should aid both in finding food as well as detecting predators. On the other hand, eyes are usually very conspicuous and several studies have suggested that eye size is associated with predation risk. However, experimental evidence is scant. In this study, we address how predation affects variation in eye size by performing two experiments using Eurasian perch juveniles as prey and either larger perch or pike as predators. First, we used large outdoor tanks to compare selection due to predators on relative eye size in open and artificial vegetated habitats. Second, we studied the effects of both predation risk and resource levels on phenotypic plasticity in relative eye size in indoor aquaria experiments. In the first experiment, we found that habitat altered selection due to predators, since predators selected for smaller eye size in a non-vegetated habitat, but not in a vegetated habitat. In the plasticity experiment, we found that fish predators induced smaller eye size in males, but not in females, while resource levels had no effect on eye size plasticity. Our experiments provide evidence that predation risk could be one of the driving factors behind variation in eye size within species.

SCREAMING AS A STRATEGY TO REDUCE THE PREDATION RISK INCURRED BY BEGGING?

Behaviour ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
pp. 615-627 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Feeding Rate ◽  
Honest Signal ◽  
Apparent Paradox ◽  
Signalling System ◽  
Comparative Analyses ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Food Requirement ◽  
Per Se ◽  
High Degree

AbstractFollowing the theory of parent-offspring conflict parents request from their offspring an honest signal of food requirement to optimally adjust feeding rate. For this purpose, offspring display a highly informative signalling system, begging vocalisation, for which the conspicuousness to predators maintains honesty, since only hungry offspring are willing to take this risk. The risk of predation incurred by begging activities challenges our understanding of how begging vocalisation could evolve towards a high degree of noisiness. A solution to this apparent paradox resides in the possibility that alongside the evolution of begging, birds also evolved strategies that reduce the risk of being depredated. Following the ornithological literature nestlings scream in the presence of a predator to frighten it, induce parents to rescue them and siblings to flee from the nest and hide in the vegetation. I therefore propose the hypothesis that nestling screaming behaviour evolved as a means of reducing the risk of predation incurred by conspicuous begging. Comparative analyses supported the prediction postulating that species in which nestlings scream in the presence of a predator produce begging calls that are more conspicuous to predators than calls of non-screaming species. This suggests that the predation cost of begging lies not only in terms of predation per se but also in the requirement of anti-predator strategies.

scholarly journals Flirting with danger: predation risk interacts with male condition to influence sexual display

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 1265-1272
Author(s):  
Pedro Z de Moraes ◽  
Pedro Diniz ◽  
Esteban Fernandez-Juricic ◽  
Regina H Macedo
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Predation Risk ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Reproductive Value ◽  
Male Response ◽  
Residual Reproductive Value ◽  
Display Behavior ◽  
Sexual Display ◽  
Male Condition ◽  
Risk Of Predation

AbstractSexual signaling coevolves with the sensory systems of intended receivers; however, predators may be unintended receivers of sexual signals. Conspicuous aerial displays in some species may place males at high risk of predation from eavesdropping predators. There are three different hypotheses to explain how signaling males can deal with increased predation risk: (1) males invest in survival by decreasing signal conspicuousness; (2) males invest in reproduction by increasing signal conspicuousness; and (3) male response is condition-dependent according to his residual reproductive value. Here, we used blue-black grassquits (Volatinia jacarina) to test these hypotheses, asking whether males modify leap displays under different levels of predation risk. Grassquit males develop an iridescent nuptial plumage and spend considerable time emitting a multimodal signal: while leaping from a perch, males clap their wings above their heads and emit a high-pitched short song. We exposed males to predator and nonpredator playbacks while video recording their displays. We found interactions between predation risk and 2 male condition variables (ectoparasite infestation and proportion of nuptial plumage coverage) that influenced display behavior. Less parasitized males and those with higher proportion of nuptial plumage showed no change in display behavior, while more parasitized males and those with lower proportion of nuptial plumage increased the vigor of displays under predation risk. In other words, males with low residual reproductive value increased reproductive effort when there was a high risk of extrinsic death. Our study provides some empirical support for the terminal investment hypothesis.

scholarly journals Picocyanobacteria aggregation as a response to predation pressure: direct contact is not necessary

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Ospina-Serna ◽  
Paula Huber ◽  
Mariana Odriozola ◽  
Paulina Fermani ◽  
Fernando Unrein
Keyword(s):  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Single Cell ◽  
Conditioned Medium ◽  
Direct Contact ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Grazing Pressure ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Natural Community ◽  
Mucilaginous Sheath ◽  
Morphological Composition

ABSTRACT Picocyanobacteria (cells <2 µm) can be found either as single-cells (Pcy) or embedded in a mucilaginous sheath as microcolonies or colonies (CPcy). It has been demonstrated that phenotypic plasticity in picocyanobacteria (i.e. the capability of single-cells to aggregate into colonies) can be induced as a response to grazing pressure. The effect of the presence of different predators (cladocerans and rotifers) on the morphological composition of picocyanobacteria was studied in a natural community, and it was observed that the abundance of CPcy significantly increased in all treatments with zooplankton compared with the control without zooplankton. The aggregation capability was also evaluated in a single-cell strain by adding a conditioned medium of flagellates, rotifers and cladocerans. The proportion of cells forming colonies was significantly higher in all treatments with conditioned medium regardless of the predator. These results suggest that the aggregation of Pcy can be induced as a response to the predation pressure exerted by protists and different zooplankters, and also that Pcy has the capability to aggregate into CPcy even without direct contact with any predator, most probably due to the presence of an infochemical dissolved in the water that does not come from disrupted Pcy cells.

scholarly journals Does risk of predation influence population dynamics? Evidence from cyclic decline of snowshoe hares

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 115 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. S. Hik
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Female Body ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Control Area ◽  
High Rate ◽  
Food Treatment ◽  
Snowshoe Hares ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Female Body Mass

Like most heavily preyed-upon animals, snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) have to balance conflicting demands of obtaining food at a high rate and avoiding predators. Adopting foraging behaviours to minimise predation risk may also lead to a decline in condition, and hence fecundity. Predictions of three hypotheses (condition constraint hypothesis, predator-avoidance constraint hypothesis, predation-sensitive foraging (PSF) hypothesis) were tested by comparing changes in the survival and condition of snowshoe hares on four experimental areas in winter during a cyclic peak and decline (1989–1993) near Kluane Lake, Yukon, Canada, where (i) predation risk was reduced by excluding terrestrial predators (FENCE), (ii) food supply was supplemented with rabbit chow ad libitum (FOOD), (iii) these two treatments were combined (FENCE+FOOD), and (iv) an unmanipulated CONTROL was used. Different pattems of survival and changes in body mass were observed in the presence and absence of terrestrial predators. On the CONTROL area, female body mass and fecundity declined, even though sufficient winter forage was apparently available in all years. A similar decrease in body mass was observed on the FOOD treatment, but only during the third year of the population decline. In contrast, female body mass remained high throughout the decline in the absence of terrestrial predators in the FENCE+FOOD and FENCE treatments. Winter survival declined on CONTROL and FENCE areas during the first year of the population decline (1991), but remained higher on FOOD until 1992 and FENCE+FOOD until 1993. These results generally supported the PSF hypothesis where terrestrial predators were present (CONTROL and FOOD grids). Where terrestrial predators were absent (FENCE and FENCE+FOOD), the results supported the alternative condition constraint hypothesis. The evidence suggests that a cascade of sublethal behavioural and physiological effects associated with increased predation risk contribute to the population decline and delayed recovery of cyclic low-phase populations of snowshoe hares.

Habitat as a source of intrapopulational variation of ornament size in Galápagos lava lizards (Microlophus albemarlensis complex)

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 278-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Jordan ◽  
Howard Snell ◽  
Jennifer Hollis ◽  
Paul Stone
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Habitat Structure ◽  
Predation Pressure ◽  
Residual Body ◽  
Galápagos Islands ◽  
Vegetative Cover ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Intrapopulational Variation

Abstract Gradients in habitat structure are expected to influence the outcome of selection on traits that contribute to communicative display. Galápagos lava lizards (Microlophus albemarlensis complex) on Isla Plaza Sur in the Galápagos Islands occur across a gradient of vegetative cover. Previous work in this population has shown that traits associated with predator avoidance are magnified in habitats with low vegetative cover. This pattern suggests that predation pressure differs by habitat and thus, may act to select against the elaboration of ornamentation. We measured the size of the chin patch, an ornament known to be used in intraspecific signaling, to test this hypothesis. The area of the chin patch was dependent on both snout-vent length and residual body mass. In contrast to expectation, males had larger chin patches in the sparsely vegetated habitat suggested to have high predation risk. This result raises questions about the presumed survival cost of ornament elaboration.

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