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Temperature dependency of predation: Increased killing rates and prey mass consumption by predators with warming.

ABSTRACT: Temperature dependency of consumer-resource interactions is fundamentally important for understanding and predicting the responses of food webs to climate change. Previous studies have shown temperature-driven shifts in herbivore consumption rates and resource preference, but these effects remain poorly understood for predatory arthropods. Here, we investigate how predator killing rates, prey mass consumption, and macronutrient intake respond to increased temperatures using a laboratory and a field reciprocal transplant experiment. Ectothermic predators, wolf spiders (Pardosa sp.), in the lab experiment, were exposed to increased temperatures and different prey macronutrient content (high lipid/low protein and low lipid/high protein) to assess changes in their killing rates and nutritional demands. Additionally, we investigate prey mass and lipid consumption by spiders under contrasting temperatures, along an elevation gradient. We used a field reciprocal transplant experiment between low (420 masl; 26°C) and high (2,100 masl; 15°C) elevations in the Ecuadorian Andes, using wild populations of two common orb-weaver spider species (Leucauge sp. and Cyclosa sp.) present along the elevation gradient. We found that killing rates of wolf spiders increased with warmer temperatures but were not significantly affected by prey macronutrient content, although spiders consumed significantly more lipids from lipid-rich prey. The field reciprocal transplant experiment showed no consistent predator responses to changes in temperature along the elevational gradient. Transplanting Cyclosa sp. spiders to low- or high-elevation sites did not affect their prey mass or lipid consumption rate, whereas Leucauge sp. individuals increased prey mass consumption when transplanted from the high to the low warm elevation. Our findings show that increases in temperature intensify predator killing rates, prey consumption, and lipid intake, but the responses to temperature vary between species, which may be a result of species-specific differences in their hunting behavior and sensitivity to temperature.

SUBMITTER: Walker R

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7520176 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Temperature dependency of predation: Increased killing rates and prey mass consumption by predators with warming.

Walker Ryan R Wilder Shawn M SM González Angélica L AL

Ecology and evolution 20200821 18

Temperature dependency of consumer-resource interactions is fundamentally important for understanding and predicting the responses of food webs to climate change. Previous studies have shown temperature-driven shifts in herbivore consumption rates and resource preference, but these effects remain poorly understood for predatory arthropods. Here, we investigate how predator killing rates, prey mass consumption, and macronutrient intake respond to increased temperatures using a laboratory and a fi ...[more]

PMID: 33005340

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Project description:Understanding how prey capture rates are influenced by feeding ecology and environmental conditions is fundamental to assessing anthropogenic impacts on marine higher predators. We compared how prey capture rates varied in relation to prey size, prey patch distribution and prey density for two species of alcid, common guillemot (Uria aalge) and razorbill (Alca torda) during the chick-rearing period. We developed a Monte Carlo approach parameterised with foraging behaviour from bird-borne data loggers, observations of prey fed to chicks, and adult diet from water-offloading, to construct a bio-energetics model. Our primary goal was to estimate prey capture rates, and a secondary aim was to test responses to a set of biologically plausible environmental scenarios. Estimated prey capture rates were 1.5 ± 0.8 items per dive (0.8 ± 0.4 and 1.1 ± 0.6 items per minute foraging and underwater, respectively) for guillemots and 3.7 ± 2.4 items per dive (4.9 ± 3.1 and 7.3 ± 4.0 items per minute foraging and underwater, respectively) for razorbills. Based on species' ecology, diet and flight costs, we predicted that razorbills would be more sensitive to decreases in 0-group sandeel (Ammodytes marinus) length (prediction 1), but guillemots would be more sensitive to prey patches that were more widely spaced (prediction 2), and lower in prey density (prediction 3). Estimated prey capture rates increased non-linearly as 0-group sandeel length declined, with the slope being steeper in razorbills, supporting prediction 1. When prey patches were more dispersed, estimated daily energy expenditure increased by a factor of 3.0 for guillemots and 2.3 for razorbills, suggesting guillemots were more sensitive to patchier prey, supporting prediction 2. However, both species responded similarly to reduced prey density (guillemot expenditure increased by 1.7; razorbill by 1.6), thus not supporting prediction 3. This bio-energetics approach complements other foraging models in predicting likely impacts of environmental change on marine higher predators dependent on species-specific foraging ecologies.

Dataset Information

Temperature dependency of predation: Increased killing rates and prey mass consumption by predators with warming.

Publications

Temperature dependency of predation: Increased killing rates and prey mass consumption by predators with warming.

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