Infective prey leads to a partial role reversal in a predator-prey interaction

An infective prey has the potential to infect, kill and consume its predator. Such a prey-predator relationship fundamentally differs from the predator-prey interaction because the prey can directly profit from the predator as a growth resource. Here we present a population dynamics model of partial role reversal in the predator-prey interaction of two species, the bottom dwelling marine deposit feeder sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and an important food source for the sea cucumber but potentially infective bacterium Vibrio splendidus. We analyse the effects of different parameters, e.g. infectivity and grazing rate, on the population sizes. We show that relative population sizes of the sea cucumber and V. Splendidus may switch with increasing infectivity. We also show that in the partial role reversal interaction the infective prey may benefit from the presence of the predator such that the population size may exceed the value of the carrying capacity of the prey in the absence of the predator. We also analysed the conditions for species extinction. The extinction of the prey, V. splendidus, may occur when its growth rate is low, or in the absence of infectivity. The extinction of the predator, A. japonicus, may follow if either the infectivity of the prey is high or a moderately infective prey is abundant. We conclude that partial role reversal is an undervalued subject in predator-prey studies.

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Infective prey leads to a partial role reversal in a predator-prey interaction

10.1101/2021.03.15.435444 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Veijo Kaitala ◽

Mikko Koivu-Jolma ◽

Jouni Laakso

Keyword(s):

Sea Cucumber ◽

Apostichopus Japonicus ◽

Role Reversal ◽

Type I ◽

Vibrio Splendidus ◽

Dynamics Model ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Population Dynamics Model ◽

Prey Interaction ◽

Major Factors

AbstractAn infective prey has the potential to infect, kill and consume its predator. Such a prey-predator relationship fundamentally differs from the classical Lotka-Volterra predator-prey premise because the prey can directly profit from the predator as a growth resource. Here we present a population dynamics model of partial role reversal in the predator-prey interaction. We parametrize the model to represent the predator-prey interaction of sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus and bacterium Vibrio splendidus. We observe that two major factors stabilize the predator-prey interaction. First, the partial role reversal in the predator-prey community stabilizes the predator-prey interaction. Second, if the predator is a generalist and follows the type I functional response in attacking the prey, the predator-prey interaction is stable. We also analysed the conditions for species extinction. The extinction of the prey, V. splendidus, may occur when its growth rate is low, or in the absence of infectivity. The extinction of the predator, A. japonicus, may follow if either the infectivity of the prey is high or a moderately infective prey is abundant. We conclude that partial role reversal is an underestimated subject in predator-prey studies.

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Role reversal in a predator–prey interaction

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.140186 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 140186 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Faustino Sánchez-Garduño ◽

Pedro Miramontes ◽

Tatiana T Marquez-Lago

Keyword(s):

Population Ecology ◽

Ecological Niche ◽

Classical System ◽

Role Reversal ◽

Ecological Interactions ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Field Evidence ◽

Niche Shifts ◽

Prey Interaction ◽

Spatio Temporal

Predator–prey relationships are one of the most studied interactions in population ecology. However, little attention has been paid to the possibility of role exchange between species, despite firm field evidence of such phenomena in nature. In this paper, we build a mathematical model capable of reproducing the main phenomenological features of role reversal in a classical system and present results for both the temporal and spatio-temporal cases. We show that, depending on the choice of parameters, our role-reversal dynamical system exhibits excitable-like behaviour, generating waves of species' concentrations that propagate through space. Our findings fill a long-standing gap in modelling ecological interactions and can be applicable to better understanding ecological niche shifts and planning of sustainable ecosystems.

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Quantifying the projected impact of the South African sardine fishery on the Robben Island penguin colony

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsv035 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 72 (6) ◽

pp. 1822-1833 ◽

Cited By ~ 31

Author(s):

William M. L. Robinson ◽

Douglas S. Butterworth ◽

Éva E. Plagányi

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Methods ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Management Procedure ◽

Population Dynamics Model ◽

Prey Interaction ◽

Spheniscus Demersus ◽

Penguin Colony ◽

Sardine Population ◽

African Penguin ◽

Robben Island

Abstract Quantitative methods are needed to evaluate the ecological effects of fishing forage species upon which predators depend. African penguin Spheniscus demersus numbers at the Robben Island colony rose during the 1990s co-incidental with a marked increase in sardine Sardinops sagax and anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus abundances, but decreased appreciably during the 2000s as sardine suffered a series of poor recruitments. A population dynamics model is developed which relates penguin adult annual mortality to local sardine biomass, and is fit to penguin moult counts and re-sightings of tagged penguins. The predator–prey interaction is best explained by a sardine–penguin mortality relationship with average penguin survival decreasing only when the local sardine biomass is less than approximately one-quarter of the maximum observed. Results suggest that the rapid growth of the colony during the 1990s was driven primarily by immigration. Penguin projections are generated by linking to future sardine abundances predicted under the operational management procedure used to set catch limits for these sardine and anchovy fisheries, and compared with equivalent scenarios without fishing. Results indicate that fishing is likely to have a relatively small impact on penguins, especially when compared with uncertainties that arise from the variable spatial distribution of the sardine population.

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Physiological responses ofOxyrrhis marinato a diet of virally infectedEmiliania huxleyi

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.6722 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e6722 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrew G. Goode ◽

David M. Fields ◽

Stephen D. Archer ◽

Joaquín Martínez Martínez

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Ingestion Rates ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Marine Food Webs ◽

Oxyrrhis Marina ◽

Prey Interaction ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Important Food Source ◽

Marine Food

The coccolithophoreEmiliania huxleyiforms some of the largest phytoplankton blooms in the ocean. The rapid demise of these blooms has been linked to viral infections.E. huxleyiabundance, distribution, and nutritional status make them an important food source for the heterotrophic protists which are classified as microzooplankton in marine food webs. In this study we investigated the fate ofE. huxleyi(CCMP 374) infected with virus strain EhV-86 in a simple predator-prey interaction. The ingestion rates ofOxyrrhis marinawere significantly lower (between 26.9 and 50.4%) when fed virus-infectedE. huxleyicells compared to non-infected cells. Despite the lower ingestion rates,O. marinashowed significantly higher growth rates (between 30 and 91.3%) when fed infectedE. huxleyicells, suggesting higher nutritional value and/or greater assimilation of infectedE. huxleyicells. No significant differences were found inO. marinacell volumes or fatty acids profiles. These results show that virally infectedE. huxleyisupport higher growth rates of single celled heterotrophs and in addition to the “viral shunt” hypothesis, viral infections may also divert more carbon to mesozooplankton grazers.

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Physiological responses of Oxyrrhis marina to a diet of virally infected Emiliania huxleyi

10.7287/peerj.preprints.26851v1 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew G Goode ◽

David M Fields ◽

Stephen D Archer ◽

Joaquín Martínez Martínez

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Emiliania Huxleyi ◽

Ingestion Rates ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Marine Food Webs ◽

Oxyrrhis Marina ◽

Prey Interaction ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Important Food Source

The coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi forms some of the largest phytoplankton blooms in the ocean. The rapid demise of these blooms has been linked to viral infections. E. huxleyi abundance, distribution, and nutritional status make them an important food source for the heterotrophic protists which are classified as microzooplankton in marine food webs. In this study we investigated the fate of E. huxleyi (CCMP 374) infected with virus strain EhV-86 in a simple predator-prey interaction. The ingestion rates of Oxyrrhis marina were significantly lower (between 26.9 and 50.4%) when fed virus-infected E. huxleyi cells compared to non-infected cells. Despite the lower ingestion rates, O. marina showed significantly higher growth rates (between 30 and 91.3%) when fed infected E. huxleyi cells, suggesting higher nutritional value and/or greater assimilation of infected E. huxleyi cells. No significant differences were found in O. marina cell volumes or fatty acids profiles. These results show that virally infected E. huxleyi support higher growth rates of single celled heterotrophs and in addition to the “viral shunt” hypothesis, viral infections may also divert more carbon to mesozooplankton grazers.

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Physiological responses of Oxyrrhis marina to a diet of virally infected Emiliania huxleyi

10.7287/peerj.preprints.26851 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Andrew G Goode ◽

David M Fields ◽

Stephen D Archer ◽

Joaquín Martínez Martínez

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Viral Infections ◽

Emiliania Huxleyi ◽

Ingestion Rates ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Marine Food Webs ◽

Oxyrrhis Marina ◽

Prey Interaction ◽

Infected Cells ◽

Important Food Source

The coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi forms some of the largest phytoplankton blooms in the ocean. The rapid demise of these blooms has been linked to viral infections. E. huxleyi abundance, distribution, and nutritional status make them an important food source for the heterotrophic protists which are classified as microzooplankton in marine food webs. In this study we investigated the fate of E. huxleyi (CCMP 374) infected with virus strain EhV-86 in a simple predator-prey interaction. The ingestion rates of Oxyrrhis marina were significantly lower (between 26.9 and 50.4%) when fed virus-infected E. huxleyi cells compared to non-infected cells. Despite the lower ingestion rates, O. marina showed significantly higher growth rates (between 30 and 91.3%) when fed infected E. huxleyi cells, suggesting higher nutritional value and/or greater assimilation of infected E. huxleyi cells. No significant differences were found in O. marina cell volumes or fatty acids profiles. These results show that virally infected E. huxleyi support higher growth rates of single celled heterotrophs and in addition to the “viral shunt” hypothesis, viral infections may also divert more carbon to mesozooplankton grazers.

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