Cargando…
Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans
Organisms are adept at altering behaviors to balance the tradeoff between foraging and predation risk in spatially and temporally shifting predator environments. In order to optimize this tradeoff, prey need to be able to display an appropriate response based on degree of predation risk. To be most...
Autores principales: | , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
PeerJ Inc.
2015
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4675102/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26664805 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1472 |
_version_ | 1782405012081606656 |
---|---|
author | Albecker, Molly Vance-Chalcraft, Heather D. |
author_facet | Albecker, Molly Vance-Chalcraft, Heather D. |
author_sort | Albecker, Molly |
collection | PubMed |
description | Organisms are adept at altering behaviors to balance the tradeoff between foraging and predation risk in spatially and temporally shifting predator environments. In order to optimize this tradeoff, prey need to be able to display an appropriate response based on degree of predation risk. To be most beneficial in the earliest life stages in which many prey are vulnerable to predation, innate anti-predator responses should scale to match the risk imposed by predators until learned anti-predator responses can occur. We conducted an experiment that examined whether tadpoles with no previous exposure to predators (i.e., predator-naive) exhibit innate antipredator behavioral responses (e.g., via refuge use and spatial avoidance) that match the actual risk posed by each predator. Using 7 treatments (6 free-roaming, lethal predators plus no-predator control), we determined the predation rates of each predator on Lithobates sphenocephalus tadpoles. We recorded behavioral observations on an additional 7 nonlethal treatments (6 caged predators plus no-predator control). Tadpoles exhibited innate responses to fish predators, but not non-fish predators, even though two non-fish predators (newt and crayfish) consumed the most tadpoles. Due to a mismatch between innate response and predator consumption, tadpoles may be vulnerable to greater rates of predation at the earliest life stages before learning can occur. Thus, naïve tadpoles in nature may be at a high risk to predation in the presence of a novel predator until learned anti-predator responses provide additional defenses to the surviving tadpoles. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-4675102 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2015 |
publisher | PeerJ Inc. |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-46751022015-12-10 Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans Albecker, Molly Vance-Chalcraft, Heather D. PeerJ Animal Behavior Organisms are adept at altering behaviors to balance the tradeoff between foraging and predation risk in spatially and temporally shifting predator environments. In order to optimize this tradeoff, prey need to be able to display an appropriate response based on degree of predation risk. To be most beneficial in the earliest life stages in which many prey are vulnerable to predation, innate anti-predator responses should scale to match the risk imposed by predators until learned anti-predator responses can occur. We conducted an experiment that examined whether tadpoles with no previous exposure to predators (i.e., predator-naive) exhibit innate antipredator behavioral responses (e.g., via refuge use and spatial avoidance) that match the actual risk posed by each predator. Using 7 treatments (6 free-roaming, lethal predators plus no-predator control), we determined the predation rates of each predator on Lithobates sphenocephalus tadpoles. We recorded behavioral observations on an additional 7 nonlethal treatments (6 caged predators plus no-predator control). Tadpoles exhibited innate responses to fish predators, but not non-fish predators, even though two non-fish predators (newt and crayfish) consumed the most tadpoles. Due to a mismatch between innate response and predator consumption, tadpoles may be vulnerable to greater rates of predation at the earliest life stages before learning can occur. Thus, naïve tadpoles in nature may be at a high risk to predation in the presence of a novel predator until learned anti-predator responses provide additional defenses to the surviving tadpoles. PeerJ Inc. 2015-12-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4675102/ /pubmed/26664805 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1472 Text en © 2015 Albecker and Vance-Chalcraft http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited. |
spellingShingle | Animal Behavior Albecker, Molly Vance-Chalcraft, Heather D. Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
title | Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
title_full | Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
title_fullStr | Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
title_full_unstemmed | Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
title_short | Mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
title_sort | mismatched anti-predator behavioral responses in predator-naïve larval anurans |
topic | Animal Behavior |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4675102/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26664805 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1472 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT albeckermolly mismatchedantipredatorbehavioralresponsesinpredatornaivelarvalanurans AT vancechalcraftheatherd mismatchedantipredatorbehavioralresponsesinpredatornaivelarvalanurans |