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Clare JDJ, Zuckerberg B, Liu N, Stenglein JL, Van Deelen TR, Pauli JN, Townsend PA. A phenology of fear: Investigating scale and seasonality in predator-prey games between wolves and white-tailed deer. Ecology 2023; 104:e4019. [PMID: 36882907 DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/13/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023]
Abstract
Predators and prey engage in games where each player must counter the moves of the other, and these games include multiple phases operating at different spatiotemporal scales. Recent work has highlighted potential issues related to scale-sensitive inferences in predator-prey interactions, and there is growing appreciation that these may exhibit pronounced but predictable dynamics. Motivated by previous assertions about effects arising from foraging games between white-tailed deer and canid predators (coyotes and wolves), we used a large and year-round network of trail cameras to characterize deer and predator foraging games, with a particular focus on clarifying its temporal scale and seasonal variation. Linear features were strongly associated with predator detection rates, suggesting these play a central role in canid foraging tactics by expediting movement. Consistent with expectations for prey contending with highly mobile predators, deer responses were more sensitive to proximal risk metrics at finer spatiotemporal scales, suggesting that coarser but more commonly used scales of analysis may miss useful insights into prey risk-response. Time allocation appears to be a key tactic for deer risk management and was more strongly moderated by factors associated with forage or evasion heterogeneity (forest cover, snow and plant phenology) than factors associated with the likelihood of predator encounter (linear features). Trade-offs between food and safety appeared to vary as much seasonally as spatially, with snow and vegetation phenology giving rise to a "phenology of fear." Deer appear free to counter predators during milder times of year, but a combination of poor foraging state, reduced forage availability, greater movements costs, and reproductive state dampen responsiveness during winter. Pronounced intra-annual variation in predator-prey interactions may be common in seasonal environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- John D J Clare
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Benjamin Zuckerberg
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Nanfeng Liu
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Jennifer L Stenglein
- Office of Applied Science, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, 101 S. Webster Street, Box 7921, Madison, Wisconsin, 53707, USA
| | - Timothy R Van Deelen
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Jonathan N Pauli
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
| | - Philip A Townsend
- Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, 1630 Linden Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53706, USA
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Monk JD, Schmitz OJ. Landscapes shaped from the top down: predicting cascading predator effects on spatial biogeochemistry. OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Julia D. Monk
- School of the Environment, Yale Univ. New Haven CT USA
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Grunseich JM, Aguirre NM, Thompson MN, Ali JG, Helms AM. Chemical Cues from Entomopathogenic Nematodes Vary Across Three Species with Different Foraging Strategies, Triggering Different Behavioral Responses in Prey and Competitors. J Chem Ecol 2021; 47:822-833. [PMID: 34415500 PMCID: PMC8613145 DOI: 10.1007/s10886-021-01304-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Revised: 07/09/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Chemical cues play important roles in predator-prey interactions. Semiochemicals can aid predator foraging and alert prey organisms to the presence of predators. Previous work suggests that predator traits differentially influence prey behavior, however, empirical data on how prey organisms respond to chemical cues from predator species with different hunting strategies, and how foraging predators react to cues from potential competitors, is lacking. Furthermore, most research in this area has focused on aquatic and aboveground terrestrial systems, while interactions among belowground, soiling-dwelling organisms have received relatively little attention. Here, we assessed how chemical cues from three species of entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), each with a different foraging strategy, influenced herbivore (cucumber beetle) and natural enemy (EPN) foraging behavior. We predicted these cues could serve as chemical indicators of increased predation risk, prey availability, or competition. Our findings revealed that foraging cucumber beetle larvae avoided chemical cues from Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (active-foraging cruiser EPNs), but not Steinernema carpocapsae (ambusher EPNs) or Steinernema riobrave (intermediate-foraging EPNs). In contrast, foraging H. bacteriophora EPNs were attracted to cues produced by the two Steinernema species but not conspecific cues. Notably, the three EPN species produced distinct blends of olfactory cues, with only a few semi-conserved compounds across species. These results indicate that a belowground insect herbivore responds differently to chemical cues from different EPN species, with some EPN species avoiding prey detection. Moreover, the active-hunting EPNs were attracted to heterospecific cues, suggesting these cues indicate a greater probability of available prey, rather than strong interspecific competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Grunseich
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Natalie M Aguirre
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Morgan N Thompson
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Jared G Ali
- Department of Entomology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Anjel M Helms
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
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