Dataset Information

Reciprocal behavioral plasticity and behavioral types during predator-prey interactions.

ABSTRACT: How predators and prey interact has important consequences for population dynamics and community stability. Here we explored how predator-prey interactions are simultaneously affected by reciprocal behavioral plasticity (i.e., plasticity in prey defenses countered by plasticity in predator offenses and vice versa) and consistent individual behavioral variation (i.e., behavioral types) within both predator and prey populations. We assessed the behavior of a predator species (northern pike) and a prey species (three-spined stickleback) during one-on-one encounters. We also measured additional behavioral and morphological traits in each species. Using structural equation modeling, we found that reciprocal behavioral plasticity as well as predator and prey behavioral types influenced how individuals behaved during an interaction. Thus, the progression and ultimate outcome of predator-prey interactions depend on both the dynamic behavioral feedback occurring during the encounter and the underlying behavioral type of each participant. We also examined whether predator behavioral type is underlain by differences in metabolism and organ size. We provide some of the first evidence that behavioral type is related to resting metabolic rate and size of a sensory organ (the eyes). Understanding the extent to which reciprocal behavioral plasticity and intraspecific behavioral variation influence the outcome of species interactions could provide insight into the maintenance of behavioral variation as well as community dynamics.

SUBMITTER: McGhee KE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3965372 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Reciprocal behavioral plasticity and behavioral types during predator-prey interactions.

McGhee Katie E KE Pintor Lauren M LM Bell Alison M AM

The American naturalist 20131025 6

How predators and prey interact has important consequences for population dynamics and community stability. Here we explored how predator-prey interactions are simultaneously affected by reciprocal behavioral plasticity (i.e., plasticity in prey defenses countered by plasticity in predator offenses and vice versa) and consistent individual behavioral variation (i.e., behavioral types) within both predator and prey populations. We assessed the behavior of a predator species (northern pike) and a ...[more]

PMID: 24231533

Similar Datasets

Project description:Small mammal abundances are frequently limited by resource availability, but predators can exert strong lethal (mortality) and nonlethal (e.g., nest abandonment) limitations. Artificially increasing resource availability for uncommon small mammals provides a unique opportunity to examine predator-prey interactions. We used remote cameras to monitor 168 nest platforms placed in the live tree canopy (n = 23 young forest stands), primarily for arboreal red tree voles (tree voles; Arborimus longicaudus), over 3 years (n = 15,510 monitoring-weeks). Tree voles frequently built nests and were detected 37% of monitoring-weeks, whereas flying squirrels (Glaucomys oregonensis) built nests infrequently but were detected 45% of monitoring-weeks. Most nest predators were detected infrequently (<1% of monitoring-weeks) and were positively correlated with tree vole presence. Weasels (Mustela spp.) were highly effective predators of tree voles (n = 8 mortalities; 10% of detections) compared to owls (n = 1), flying squirrels (n = 2), and Steller's jays (n = 1). Tree vole activity decreased from 84.1 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 56.2, 111.9) detections/week 1-week prior to a weasel detection to 4.7 detections/week (95% CI: 1.7, 7.8) 1-week postdetection and remained low for at least 12 weeks. Interpretations of predator-prey interactions were highly sensitive to how we binned continuously collected data and model results from our finest bin width were biologically counter-intuitive. Average annual survival of female tree voles was consistent with a previous study (0.14; 95% CI: -0.04 [0.01], 0.32) and high compared to many terrestrial voles. The relative infrequency of weasel detections and inefficiency of other predators did not provide strong support for the hypothesis that predation per se limited populations. Rather, predation pressure, by reducing occupancy of already scarce nest sites through mortality and nest abandonment, may contribute to long-term local instability of tree vole populations in young forests. Additional monitoring would be needed to assess this hypothesis.

Project description:We investigate the influence of asymmetric interactions on coevolutionary dynamics of a predator-prey system by using the theory of adaptive dynamics. We assume that the defense ability of prey and the attack ability of predators all can adaptively evolve, either caused by phenotypic plasticity or by behavioral choice, but there are certain costs in terms of their growth rate or death rate. The coevolutionary model is constructed from a deterministic approximation of random mutation-selection process. To sum up, if prey's trade-off curve is globally weakly concave, then five outcomes of coevolution are demonstrated, which depend on the intensity and shape of asymmetric predator-prey interactions and predator's trade-off shape. Firstly, we find that if there is a weakly decelerating cost and a weakly accelerating benefit for predator species, then evolutionary branching in the predator species may occur, but after branching further coevolution may lead to extinction of the predator species with a larger trait value. However, if there is a weakly accelerating cost and a weakly accelerating benefit for predator species, then evolutionary branching in the predator species is also possible and after branching the dimorphic predator can evolutionarily stably coexist with a monomorphic prey species. Secondly, if the asymmetric interactions become a little strong, then prey and predators will evolve to an evolutionarily stable equilibrium, at which they can stably coexist on a long-term timescale of evolution. Thirdly, if there is a weakly accelerating cost and a relatively strongly accelerating benefit for prey species, then evolutionary branching in the prey species is possible and the finally coevolutionary outcome contains a dimorphic prey and a monomorphic predator species. Fourthly, if the asymmetric interactions become more stronger, then predator-prey coevolution may lead to cycles in both traits and equilibrium population densities. The Red Queen dynamic is a possible outcome under asymmetric predator-prey interactions.

Dataset Information

Reciprocal behavioral plasticity and behavioral types during predator-prey interactions.

Publications

Reciprocal behavioral plasticity and behavioral types during predator-prey interactions.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets