Download or read book Metabolic Physiological and Behavioral Responses of Prey to Predation written by Richard Trone and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Predators are known to cause prey to alter their morphology, life history or behavior in ways that reduce the likelihood of the prey being consumed by the predator. Seldom considered, however, are the consequences of predators on internal morphology (e.g., gut length) or physiology of prey. Such consideration is important because these traits likely affect prey growth and could explain why prey often grow more slowly in the presence of predators. Furthermore, a history of exposure to predators may alter how strongly visual or chemical signals from predators affect prey physiology and behavior. I raised larval frogs in artificial ponds that either lacked or contained a caged fish predator and assessed whether rearing environment affected prey gut length, morphology, behavior, and metabolic rate. I also assessed whether the rearing environment affected the metabolic and behavioral response of larval frogs to either short-term visual or chemical signals from fish by measuring the metabolism and behavior of predator naïve and predator exposed larval frogs when exposed to short-term visual and/or chemical signals from fish. Tadpoles raised with predators had shorter guts but long-term predator exposure had no effect on the metabolic rate of tadpoles, body mass, or survival. The effect of long-term predator exposure on tadpole shape depended on body size. Occurrence of predators caused tadpole shape to differ for both small and large tadpoles but not tadpoles of the average body size. Short-term exposure to chemical cues from predators altered the metabolic rate of naïve tadpoles but not tadpoles with prior exposure to predators. Smaller naïve tadpoles reduced their metabolic rate but larger naïve tadpoles enhanced their metabolic rate in response to short-term chemical cues. Chemical cues caused the metabolic rate of naïve tadpoles to be 24% greater than that observed in tadpoles that were reared with predators. Short-term visual cues did not influence the metabolic rate of any tadpoles. Prior exposure to predators did not cause tadpoles to differ in their activity levels or their likelihood to seek a refuge. Exposure to short-term chemical cues increased the number of naïve tadpoles seeking a refuge. Short-term visual cues resulted in more predator exposed tadpoles hiding in a refuge. My results indicate that long-term exposure to predators may compromise the ability of prey to extract resources by causing prey to develop shorter guts. These results further suggest the greater activity of predator exposed tadpoles to be a result of a less efficient digestion system requiring increased foraging effort but the risk of increased activity in the face of predation may be mitigated to some degree by modifications to body shape. This study supports the idea that there are complex interactions among physiology, behavior, and morphology in predator-prey interactions.

Download or read book The North American Porcupine written by Uldis Roze and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Long and sympathetic watching, radio tracking, chemical analysis are all part of this naturalist's ingenious and peaceable arsenal of inquiry into the lives of porcupines."--Scientific American

Download or read book Antipredator Defenses in Birds and Mammals written by Timothy M. Caro and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2005-09 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tim Caro explores the many & varied ways in which prey species have evolved defensive characteristics and behaviour to confuse, outperform or outwit their predators, from the camoflaged coat of the giraffe to the extraordinary way in which South American sealions ward off the attacks of killer whales.

Download or read book The European Rabbit written by Harry V. Thompson and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 1994 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reviews the biology of the rabbit as a successful invader and colonizer, summarizing many long-term scientific studies and the history of efforts to control it in Britain, continental Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. Enjoyed for its meat and fur, but cursed for its impact on ecosystems and agriculture, the rabbit is often at the centre of ecological controversy. The first two chapters describe the origins, evolution, and taxonomy of Oryctolagus cuniculus and its naturaland assisted spread. The following four chapters on Europe, Britain, Australia, and New Zealand cover common subjects such as reproduction, population-dynamics, and control operations. The parallels and contrasts in the behaviour, ecology, and management of rabbits in very different environments are fascinating. The last chapter gives a comprehensive review of myxomatosis, arguably the most important and best-studied epizootic in the history of wildlife management.

Download or read book Antipredator Defenses Determine an Adaptive Response to Stress in Neotoma Fuscipes written by Carson Balfour Keller and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Research in predator-prey relationships has often focused on the direct consumptive impacts that predators have on prey. However, we are beginning to understand that direct consumption only represents a portion of the total effect that predators have on prey. Fear effects are the indirect effects that predators have on prey and are a result of antipredator defenses to perceived risk. These responses have shown to cause declines in survival, reproduction, and foraging behavior, potentially leading to changes in population dynamics and, ultimately, community structure. I examined how dusky-footed woodrats (Neotoma fuscipes) cope with acute and chronic perceived predation risk by experimentally elevating predator odor for wild and captive individuals in Southern California. I measured concurrent behavioral and physiological effects of increased perceived risk using giving-up densities and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. An index of body condition was derived by correcting mass for differences in body size (i.e. skull width) between individuals. Perceived risk was manipulated using native predator odor (bobcat urine); predator urine has been demonstrated as a perceived risk to many rodent species. My results reveal that N. fuscipes exhibits an acute behavioral and stress hormone response. However, they demonstrate no significant negative changes in foraging rates, body condition, and stress hormone levels under chronic exposure to risk. The lack of any measurable response to a chronic stressor suggests that a chronic response may not have evolved in this species and may be unnecessary due to its short lifespan, non-cyclic lifecycle, and primary ambush predator. Habituation may also play a role as an adaptive response to a continuous environmental stressor. Therefore, the interplay between prey life-history traits with behavioral and physiological responses may be essential to understanding indirect effects of fear. Research into how life-history traits may drive evolutionary responses to predators may help to discern if such traits constrain antipredator behaviors. Understanding the role fear has in altering predator-prey relationships may allow for a better understanding of eco-evolutionary dynamics and the ecosystem-wide impacts that changes in these relationships can induce.

Download or read book Escaping From Predators written by William E. Cooper, Jr and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-28 with total page 459 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a predator attacks, prey are faced with a series of 'if', 'when' and 'how' escape decisions – these critical questions are the foci of this book. Cooper and Blumstein bring together a balance of theory and empirical research to summarise over fifty years of scattered research and benchmark current thinking in the rapidly expanding literature on the behavioural ecology of escaping. The book consolidates current and new behaviour models with taxonomically divided empirical chapters that demonstrate the application of escape theory to different groups. The chapters integrate behaviour with physiology, genetics and evolution to lead the reader through the complex decisions faced by prey during a predator attack, examining how these decisions interact with life history and individual variation. The chapter on best practice field methodology and the ideas for future research presented throughout, ensure this volume is practical as well as informative.

Download or read book Chemical Communication in Crustaceans written by Thomas Breithaupt and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2010-11-25 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The crustaceans are ecologically and economically important organisms. They constitute one of the dominant invertebrate groups on earth, particularly within the aquatic realm. Crustaceans include some of the preferred scientific model organism, profitable aquaculture specimen, but also invasive nuisance species threatening native animal communities throughout the world. Chemoreception is the most important sensory modality of crustaceans, acquiring important information about their environment and picking up the chemical signals that mediate communication with conspecifics. Significant advances have been made in our understanding of crustacean chemical communication during the past decade. This includes knowledge about the identity, production, transfer, reception and behavioral function of chemical signals in selected crustacean groups. While it is well known that chemical communication is an integral part of the behavioral ecology of most living organisms, the intricate ways in which organisms allocate chemicals in communication remains enigmatic. How does the environment influence the evolution of chemical communication? What are the environmental cues that induce production or release of chemicals? How do individuals economize production and utilization of chemicals? What is the importance of molecule specificity or mix of a molecule cocktail in chemical communication? What is the role of chemical cues in multimodal communication? How does the ontogenetic stage, the sex or the physiological status of an individual affect its reaction to chemical cues? Many of these questions still represent important challenges to biologists.

Download or read book Susceptibility of Juvenile Fishes to Environmental Change written by Brittany Elizabeth Davis and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rockfish that inhabit seagrass beds may be particularly robust to environmental perturbation with an enhanced ability to compensate for alterations in PCO2 and DO compared to species living in more stable environments; however, studies on fishes in seagrass habitats are often overlooked compared to kelp forests or deep ocean waters when examining the effects of GCC conditions. I exposed rockfish to two PCO2 conditions (ambient [600] and high [1600 μatm PCO2]) across two levels of DO (normoxic [8.0] and hypoxic [4.5 mg l-1]) and measured physiological costs (cellular metabolism), behavioral responses (activity, exploration, and anti-predator responses), and predator-prey interactions (survival from cabezon [Scorpaenichthys marmoratus], a common predator of rockfish). I found evidence of short-term elevations in cellular metabolism, alterations in behavior, and susceptibility to predation in juvenile rockfish after acute acclimation to high PCO2 and hypoxic conditions. However, after 3-weeks of exposures, physiological and behavioral alterations were restored suggesting that rockfish likely possess plasticity in mechanisms to defend against wide changes in PCO2 and oxygen conditions. Our findings indicate local adaptation and life-history strategies are a critical factor in understanding species responses to future GCC conditions and whether a species is likely to be robust or sensitive. In chapter four, I investigated how GCC-correlated drought periods in California may influence fishes in the San Francisco Estuary-Sacramento/San Joaquin Bay-Delta rivers (hereafter Bay-Delta). GCC and drought periods may alter the Bay-Delta with increased in water temperature, sea level rise and reduced snowpack with less water outflow, both of which lead to saltwater intrusion and increased salinity regimes in the Delta. Already, a pelagic fish Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus), endemic to the Bay-Delta has precipitously declined, potentially to near extinction; however, it remains unclear how multiple drought stressors of high temperature and salinity interact to affect fish survival, and the influence Delta Smelt populations. Because the Bay-Delta is one of the most highly invaded ecosystems in the world, I also wanted to explore the effects of multiple drought stressors on non-native competitors and predators that influence Delta Smelt populations. Therefore, in this study I assessed the influence of elevated temperature (20°C) and salinity (12 ppt) as co-occurring stressors on the physiological performance of three Delta fishes: juvenile native, endangered Delta Smelt, and juvenile non-native Mississippi Silverside (Menidia beryllina) and Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides). I determined species-specific vulnerability (i.e. tolerance) to elevated salinity and temperature, and characterized if the series in which stressors where experienced (e.g. initial warming, subsequent increased salinity, and vice-versa) affected the physiological tolerance of fishes. I found that each species had the capacity to tolerate a series of co-occurring stressors, and thermal history, not salinity, determined upper thermal tolerance. As expected, non-native fish were more thermally tolerant than native Delta Smelt; however, species-specific plasticity of upper tolerance was evident. Delta Smelt and Silversides rapidly reached new thermal tolerance baselines following 2-4 days of acclimation to 20°C, whereas Largemouth Bass upper tolerance was still increasing after 7 days of acclimation. Estimated thermal safety margins, that is, the buffer (i.e. temperature difference) between upper thermal tolerance and maximum habitat temperatures indicated, Delta Smelt have the narrowest margin for performance within Bay-Delta habitats, and with projected 2-3°C increases in temperature from GCC some thermal safety margins may become negative influencing the overall survival of the population. Since thermal history, and not salinity underlined physiological changes in California’s critically endangered Delta Smelt (H. transpacificus), the last chapter (five) focused exclusively on the effects of warming (a single stressor) on Delta Smelt behavioral responses and susceptibility to predation. The effects of temperature on individual and group movement behavior in prey fish can affect ecological interactions such as competition and predation. Therefore, in addition to understanding the effects of warming on physiology, it is important to understand how behavioral responses to warming may influence populations. We tested how high temperature experienced as constant (21°C) or fluctuated warming (as in a natural tidal cycle, daily 17-21°C) affects group structure of Delta Smelt shoals, anti-predator responses (i.e. conspecific alarm cue or predator-borne cue) and predation susceptibility from Largemouth Bass. This study quantified for the first time the free-swimming characteristics and group structure of Delta Smelt. In general, Delta Smelt did demonstrate shoaling behavior, remaining on average 2 body lengths from their nearest neighbor. There were significant effects of constant warming on both individual and structural behaviors; however, if warming was fluctuated in a manner closely mimicking that of the natural tidal cycle, Delta Smelt movement was not affected compared to the control group (held at ambient temperature, 17°C). Similarly, Delta Smelt’s response to conspecific alarm cue, predator cues, and a real-predation threat were also dependent on the type of warming treatment, such that significant mal-adaptive behaviors and increased predation mortality were exhibited under constant warming, but not fluctuated warming. While this last study proves important information about shoaling behaviors of Delta Smelt under warming, more importantly, from an experimental perspective, future studies should take care to match temperature treatments closer to real-world daily fluctuations when and where possible.

Download or read book Predator Ecology written by John P. DeLong and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2021-09-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Predator-prey interactions are ubiquitous, govern the flow of energy up trophic levels, and strongly influence the structure of ecological systems. They are typically quantified using the functional response - the relationship between a predator's foraging rate and the availability of food. As such, the functional response is central to how all ecological communities function - since all communities contain foragers - and a principal driver of the abundance, diversity, and dynamics of ecological communities. The functional response also reflects all the behaviors, traits, and strategies that predators use to hunt prey and that prey use to evade predation. It is thus both a clear reflection of past evolution, including predator-prey arms races, and a major force driving the future evolution of both predator and prey. Despite their importance, there have been remarkably few attempts to synthesize or even briefly review functional responses. This novel and accessible book fills this gap, clearly demonstrating their crucial role as the link between individuals, evolution, and community properties, representing a highly-integrated and measurable aspect of ecological function. It provides a clear entry point for students, a refresher for more advanced researchers, and a motivator for future research. Predator Ecology is an advanced textbook suitable for graduate students and researchers in ecology and evolutionary biology seeking a broad, up-to-date, and authoritative coverage of the field. It will also be of relevance and use to mathematical ecologists, wildlife biologists, and anyone interested in predator-prey interactions.

Download or read book Evolutionary Ecology of Social and Sexual Systems written by J. Emmett Duffy and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-06 with total page 519 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding of animal social and sexual evolution has seen a renaissance in recent years with discoveries of frequent infidelity in apparently monogamous species, the importance of sperm competition, active female mate choice, and eusocial behavior in animals outside the traditional social insect groups. Each of these findings has raised new questions, and suggested new answers, about the evolution of behavioral interactions among animals. This volume synthesizes recent research on the sexual and social biology of the Crustacea, one of the dominant invertebrate groups on earth. Its staggering diversity includes ecologically important inhabitants of nearly every environment from deep-sea trenches, through headwater streams, to desert soils. The wide range of crustacean phenotypes and environments is accompanied by a comparable diversity of behavioral and social systems, including the elaborate courtship and wildly exaggerated morphologies of fiddler crabs, the mysterious queuing behavior of migrating spiny lobsters, and even eusociality in coral-reef shrimps. This diversity makes crustaceans particularly valuable for exploring the comparative evolution of sexual and social systems. Despite exciting recent advances, however, general recognition of the value of Crustacea as models has lagged behind that of the better studied insects and vertebrates. This book synthesizes the state of the field in crustacean behavior and sociobiology and places it in a conceptually based, comparative framework that will be valuable to active researchers and students in animal behavior, ecology, and evolutionary biology. It brings together a group of internationally recognized and rising experts in fields related to crustacean behavioral ecology, ranging from physiology and functional morphology, through mating and social behavior, to ecology and phylogeny. Each chapter makes connections to other, non-crustacean taxa, and the volume closes with a summary section that synthesizes the contributions, discusses anthropogenic impacts, highlights unanswered questions, and provides a vision for profitable future research.

Download or read book Guidelines for the Care and Use of Mammals in Neuroscience and Behavioral Research written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-08-22 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Expanding on the National Research Council's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, this book deals specifically with mammals in neuroscience and behavioral research laboratories. It offers flexible guidelines for the care of these animals, and guidance on adapting these guidelines to various situations without hindering the research process. Guidelines for the Care and Use of Mammals in Neuroscience and Behavioral Research offers a more in-depth treatment of concerns specific to these disciplines than any previous guide on animal care and use. It treats on such important subjects as: The important role that the researcher and veterinarian play in developing animal protocols. Methods for assessing and ensuring an animal's well-being. General animal-care elements as they apply to neuroscience and behavioral research, and common animal welfare challenges this research can pose. The use of professional judgment and careful interpretation of regulations and guidelines to develop performance standards ensuring animal well-being and high-quality research. Guidelines for the Care and Use of Mammals in Neuroscience and Behavioral Research treats the development and evaluation of animal-use protocols as a decision-making process, not just a decision. To this end, it presents the most current, in-depth information about the best practices for animal care and use, as they pertain to the intricacies of neuroscience and behavioral research.

Download or read book Fish Locomotion written by Paolo Domenici and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2010-01-01 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fish accomplish most of their basic behaviors by swimming. Swimming is fundamental in a vast majority of fish species for avoiding predation, feeding, finding food, mating, migrating and finding optimal physical environments. Fish exhibit a wide variety of swimming patterns and behaviors. This treatise looks at fish swimming from the behavioral and

Download or read book The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians written by Kentwood D. Wells and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2010-02-15 with total page 1162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consisting of more than six thousand species, amphibians are more diverse than mammals and are found on every continent save Antarctica. Despite the abundance and diversity of these animals, many aspects of the biology of amphibians remain unstudied or misunderstood. The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians aims to fill this gap in the literature on this remarkable taxon. It is a celebration of the diversity of amphibian life and the ecological and behavioral adaptations that have made it a successful component of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Synthesizing seventy years of research on amphibian biology, Kentwood D. Wells addresses all major areas of inquiry, including phylogeny, classification, and morphology; aspects of physiological ecology such as water and temperature relations, respiration, metabolism, and energetics; movements and orientation; communication and social behavior; reproduction and parental care; ecology and behavior of amphibian larvae and ecological aspects of metamorphosis; ecological impact of predation on amphibian populations and antipredator defenses; and aspects of amphibian community ecology. With an eye towards modern concerns, The Ecology and Behavior of Amphibians concludes with a chapter devoted to amphibian conservation. An unprecedented scholarly contribution to amphibian biology, this book is eagerly anticipated among specialists.

Download or read book Integrating Predation Risk Across Scales From Neurons to Ecosystems and Milliseconds to Generations written by Jacqueline Jeannette Blundell and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2020-06-04 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Ecology of Predator Prey Interactions written by Pedro Barbosa and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005-08-11 with total page 709 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses the fundamental issues of predator-prey interactions, with an emphasis on predation among arthropods, which have been better studied, and for which the database is more extensive than for the large and rare vertebrate predators. The book should appeal to ecologists interested in the broad issue of predation effects on communities.

Download or read book Dynamic Food Webs written by Peter C de Ruiter and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2005-12-20 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dynamic Food Webs challenges us to rethink what factors may determine ecological and evolutionary pathways of food web development. It touches upon the intriguing idea that trophic interactions drive patterns and dynamics at different levels of biological organization: dynamics in species composition, dynamics in population life-history parameters and abundances, and dynamics in individual growth, size and behavior. These dynamics are shown to be strongly interrelated governing food web structure and stability and the role of populations and communities play in ecosystem functioning. Dynamic Food Webs not only offers over 100 illustrations, but also contains 8 riveting sections devoted to an understanding of how to manage the effects of environmental change, the protection of biological diversity and the sustainable use of natural resources. Dynamic Food Webs is a volume in the Theoretical Ecology series. - Relates dynamics on different levels of biological organization: individuals, populations, and communities - Deals with empirical and theoretical approaches - Discusses the role of community food webs in ecosystem functioning - Proposes methods to assess the effects of environmental change on the structure of biological communities and ecosystem functioning - Offers an analyses of the relationship between complexity and stability in food webs

Download or read book Foraging written by David W. Stephens and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Foraging is fundamental to animal survival and reproduction, yet it is much more than a simple matter of finding food; it is a biological imperative. Animals must find and consume resources to succeed, and they make extraordinary efforts to do so. For instance, pythons rarely eat, but when they do, their meals are large—as much as 60 percent larger than their own bodies. The snake’s digestive system is normally dormant, but during digestion metabolic rates can increase fortyfold. A python digesting quietly on the forest floor has the metabolic rate of thoroughbred in a dead heat. This and related foraging processes have broad applications in ecology, cognitive science, anthropology, and conservation biology—and they can be further extrapolated in economics, neurobiology, and computer science. Foraging is the first comprehensive review of the topic in more than twenty years. A monumental undertaking, this volume brings together twenty-two experts from throughout the field to offer the latest on the mechanics of foraging, modern foraging theory, and foraging ecology. The fourteen essays cover all the relevant issues, including cognition, individual behavior, caching behavior, parental behavior, antipredator behavior, social behavior, population and community ecology, herbivory, and conservation. Considering a wide range of taxa, from birds to mammals to amphibians, Foraging will be the definitive guide to the field.