Loading…
Under pressure: Short‐ and long‐term response to predation varies in two populations of a live‐bearing fish
The non‐lethal effects of predation can significantly influence animal behavior and population composition. Research has often centered around prey response to predator exposure in the short term, but fewer studies have highlighted the effects of long‐term predator exposures. In addition, studies of...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Ethology 2020-04, Vol.126 (4), p.463-475 |
|---|---|
| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| Summary: | The non‐lethal effects of predation can significantly influence animal behavior and population composition. Research has often centered around prey response to predator exposure in the short term, but fewer studies have highlighted the effects of long‐term predator exposures. In addition, studies of responses to predation risk are not always calibrated against the ecological history of predation risk in specific populations. We address these gaps by examining the effects of both long‐ and short‐term predator exposure on the behavior of individuals from populations that have different ecological histories of predation risk. We exposed individuals from high‐predation and low‐predation populations of the live‐bearing freshwater poeciliid, Heterandria formosa, to predators to assess changes in male reproductive behavior toward females. We also assessed longer‐term reproductive responses by exposing male and female H. formosa to predators at a random time of day, every day, for 30 days. In the presence of a predator, in the short term, males changed the frequency of their behaviors and females varied in their concentration of cortisol, demonstrating immediate responses to the perceived risk. The magnitude of these changes was larger in the population without a long history of predator exposure. However, we found that males and females did not change their reproductive output when exposed to predators over longer periods of time, suggesting that individuals acclimatize to the level of predation risk they experience. These results also suggest that short‐term variation in behavior or stress hormone responses should not be used as proxies for long‐term responses or fitness effects. Future work should assess both short‐term behavior and long‐term responses while simultaneously considering the ecological history of populations.
Standardized behavior counts of male behavior from high (HPP, n = 39) and low (LPP, n = 48) predator populations, directed toward females during two different phases of predator and control treatments. (a) LS means ± SE of the standardized counts of chasing directed toward females by males of the two populations, (b) LS means ± SE of the standardized darting directed toward females by males of the two populations, (c) LS means ± SE of the standardized counts of swings directed toward females by males of the two populations, and (d) LS means ± SE of the standardized following time in seconds directed toward females by males of the two populati |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0179-1613 1439-0310 |
| DOI: | 10.1111/eth.12996 |