Dataset Information

Predator-induced flow disturbances alert prey, from the onset of an attack.

ABSTRACT: Many prey species, from soil arthropods to fish, perceive the approach of predators, allowing them to escape just in time. Thus, prey capture is as important to predators as prey finding. We extend an existing framework for understanding the conjoint trajectories of predator and prey after encounters, by estimating the ratio of predator attack and prey danger perception distances, and apply it to wolf spiders attacking wood crickets. Disturbances to air flow upstream from running spiders, which are sensed by crickets, were assessed by computational fluid dynamics with the finite-elements method for a much simplified spider model: body size, speed and ground effect were all required to obtain a faithful representation of the aerodynamic signature of the spider, with the legs making only a minor contribution. The relationship between attack speed and the maximal distance at which the cricket can perceive the danger is parabolic; it splits the space defined by these two variables into regions differing in their values for this ratio. For this biological interaction, the ratio is no greater than one, implying immediate perception of the danger, from the onset of attack. Particular attention should be paid to the ecomechanical aspects of interactions with such small ratio, because of the high degree of bidirectional coupling of the behaviour of the two protagonists. This conclusion applies to several other predator-prey systems with sensory ecologies based on flow sensing, in air and water.

SUBMITTER: Casas J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4123705 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Predator-induced flow disturbances alert prey, from the onset of an attack.

Casas Jérôme J Steinmann Thomas T

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20140901 1790

Many prey species, from soil arthropods to fish, perceive the approach of predators, allowing them to escape just in time. Thus, prey capture is as important to predators as prey finding. We extend an existing framework for understanding the conjoint trajectories of predator and prey after encounters, by estimating the ratio of predator attack and prey danger perception distances, and apply it to wolf spiders attacking wood crickets. Disturbances to air flow upstream from running spiders, which ...[more]

PMID: 25030986

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:Predation risk is a strong driver of prey distribution and movement. However, fitness-influencing behaviours, such as mating, can alter risk and influence predator-prey space-use dynamics. In tree crickets, Oecanthus henryi, mate searching involves acoustic signalling by immobile males and phonotactic movement by females. Space-use patterns in tree crickets relative to their primary predators, green lynx spiders (Peucetia viridans), should therefore depend on their current mate-searching state; whether males are calling or non-calling and whether females are phonotactic or non-phonotactic. We first measured the degree of spatial anchoring of crickets to specific bushes in the field and determined whether that influenced the probability of broad-scale spatial overlap with spiders. In the absence of spiders, all crickets, independent of sex or male calling status, were found to be spatially anchored to specific types of bushes and not uniformly distributed on the landscape. At the broad spatial scale, spiders were more likely to be found on bushes with female crickets and, to a lesser degree, calling male crickets. At a finer spatial scale within a bush, movement strategies of crickets not only varied depending on the presence or absence of a spider, but also on their current mate-searching state. Phonotactic females showed clear predator avoidance, whereas calling and non-calling males moved towards the spider instead of away, similar to predator inspection behaviour seen in many taxa. As the strongly selected sex, males are more likely to undertake risky mate-searching activities, which includes inspection of predator positions. Overall, we found that all crickets were predictably anchored at the landscape scale, but their sex and mate-seeking behaviour influenced the degree of overlap with predators and their antipredator movement strategies. Reproductive strategies within a prey species, therefore, can alter predator-prey space race at multiple spatial scales.

Dataset Information

Predator-induced flow disturbances alert prey, from the onset of an attack.

Publications

Predator-induced flow disturbances alert prey, from the onset of an attack.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets