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Shiratsuru S, Studd EK, Boutin S, Peers MJL, Majchrzak YN, Menzies AK, Derbyshire R, Jung TS, Krebs CJ, Boonstra R, Murray DL. When death comes: linking predator-prey activity patterns to timing of mortality to understand predation risk. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230661. [PMID: 37192667 PMCID: PMC10188243 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/18/2023] Open
Abstract
The assumption that activity and foraging are risky for prey underlies many predator-prey theories and has led to the use of predator-prey activity overlap as a proxy of predation risk. However, the simultaneous measures of prey and predator activity along with timing of predation required to test this assumption have not been available. Here, we used accelerometry data on snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) and Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis) to determine activity patterns of prey and predators and match these to precise timing of predation. Surprisingly we found that lynx kills of hares were as likely to occur during the day when hares were inactive as at night when hares were active. We also found that activity rates of hares were not related to the chance of predation at daily and weekly scales, whereas lynx activity rates positively affected the diel pattern of lynx predation on hares and their weekly kill rates of hares. Our findings suggest that predator-prey diel activity overlap may not always be a good proxy of predation risk, and highlight a need for examining the link between predation and spatio-temporal behaviour of predator and prey to improve our understanding of how predator-prey behavioural interactions drive predation risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shotaro Shiratsuru
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2R3
| | - Emily K. Studd
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2R3
- Department of Biological Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada V2C 0B8
| | - Stan Boutin
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2R3
| | - Michael J. L. Peers
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2R3
| | - Yasmine N. Majchrzak
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2R3
| | - Allyson K. Menzies
- Department of Natural Resource Sciences, McGill University, St-Anne-de-Bellevue, Québec, Canada H9X 3V9
| | | | - Thomas S. Jung
- Department of Environment, Government of Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada
- Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Charles J. Krebs
- Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Rudy Boonstra
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Dennis L. Murray
- Department of Biology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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2
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Rennolds CW, Bely AE. Integrative biology of injury in animals. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:34-62. [PMID: 36176189 PMCID: PMC10087827 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12894] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2021] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/02/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
Mechanical injury is a prevalent challenge in the lives of animals with myriad potential consequences for organisms, including reduced fitness and death. Research on animal injury has focused on many aspects, including the frequency and severity of wounding in wild populations, the short- and long-term consequences of injury at different biological scales, and the variation in the response to injury within or among individuals, species, ontogenies, and environmental contexts. However, relevant research is scattered across diverse biological subdisciplines, and the study of the effects of injury has lacked synthesis and coherence. Furthermore, the depth of knowledge across injury biology is highly uneven in terms of scope and taxonomic coverage: much injury research is biomedical in focus, using mammalian model systems and investigating cellular and molecular processes, while research at organismal and higher scales, research that is explicitly comparative, and research on invertebrate and non-mammalian vertebrate species is less common and often less well integrated into the core body of knowledge about injury. The current state of injury research presents an opportunity to unify conceptually work focusing on a range of relevant questions, to synthesize progress to date, and to identify fruitful avenues for future research. The central aim of this review is to synthesize research concerning the broad range of effects of mechanical injury in animals. We organize reviewed work by four broad and loosely defined levels of biological organization: molecular and cellular effects, physiological and organismal effects, behavioural effects, and ecological and evolutionary effects of injury. Throughout, we highlight the diversity of injury consequences within and among taxonomic groups while emphasizing the gaps in taxonomic coverage, causal understanding, and biological endpoints considered. We additionally discuss the importance of integrating knowledge within and across biological levels, including how initial, localized responses to injury can lead to long-term consequences at the scale of the individual animal and beyond. We also suggest important avenues for future injury biology research, including distinguishing better between related yet distinct injury phenomena, expanding the subjects of injury research to include a greater variety of species, and testing how intrinsic and extrinsic conditions affect the scope and sensitivity of injury responses. It is our hope that this review will not only strengthen understanding of animal injury but will contribute to building a foundation for a more cohesive field of 'injury biology'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey W Rennolds
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
| | - Alexandra E Bely
- Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
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3
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Krueger T, Cross AT, Hübner J, Morinière J, Hausmann A, Fleischmann A. A novel approach for reliable qualitative and quantitative prey spectra identification of carnivorous plants combining DNA metabarcoding and macro photography. Sci Rep 2022; 12:4778. [PMID: 35314716 PMCID: PMC8938489 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08580-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2021] [Accepted: 02/10/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Prey spectra (the number and composition of captured arthropods) represent a crucial aspect of carnivorous plant ecology, yet remain poorly studied. Traditional morphology-based approaches for prey identification are time-intensive, require specialists with considerable knowledge of arthropod taxonomy, and are hampered by high numbers of unidentifiable (i.e., heavily digested) prey items. We examined prey spectra of three species of closely-related annual Drosera (Droseraceae, sundews) from tropical northern Australia using a novel DNA metabarcoding approach with in-situ macro photography as a plausibility control and to facilitate prey quantity estimations. This new method facilitated accurate analyses of carnivorous plant prey spectra (even of heavily digested prey lacking characteristic morphological features) at a taxonomic resolution and level of completeness far exceeding morphology-based methods and approaching the 100% mark at arthropod order level. Although the three studied species exhibited significant differences in detected prey spectra, little prey specialisation was observed and habitat or plant population density variations were likely the main drivers of prey spectra dissimilarity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thilo Krueger
- grid.1032.00000 0004 0375 4078School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia
| | - Adam T. Cross
- grid.1032.00000 0004 0375 4078School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Australia ,EcoHealth Network, Brookline, MA USA
| | - Jeremy Hübner
- grid.452282.b0000 0001 1013 3702Zoologische Staatssammlung München (SNSB-ZSM), Munich, Germany
| | | | - Axel Hausmann
- grid.452282.b0000 0001 1013 3702Zoologische Staatssammlung München (SNSB-ZSM), Munich, Germany
| | - Andreas Fleischmann
- grid.452781.d0000 0001 2203 6205Botanische Staatssammlung München (SNSB-BSM), Munich, Germany ,grid.5252.00000 0004 1936 973XGeoBio-Center LMU, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany
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4
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Escalante I, Elias DO. The type of leg lost affects habitat use but not survival in a non-regenerating arthropod. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:10672-10685. [PMID: 34367605 PMCID: PMC8328409 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/21/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Finding shelter and surviving encounters with predators are pervasive challenges for animals. These challenges may be exacerbated after individuals experience bodily damage. Certain forms of damage arise voluntarily in animals; for instance, some taxa release appendages (tails, legs, or other body parts) as a defensive strategy ("autotomy"). This behavior, however, may pose long-term negative consequences for habitat use and survival. Additionally, these putative consequences are expected to vary according to the function of the lost body part. We tested the effects of losing different functional leg types (locomotor or sensory) on future habitat use and survival in a Neotropical species of Prionostemma harvestmen (Arachnida: Opiliones) that undergo frequent autotomy but do not regrow limbs. Daytime surveys revealed that both eight-legged harvestmen and harvestmen missing legs roosted in similar frequencies across habitats (tree bark, mossy tree, or fern), and perched at similar heights. Mark-recapture data showed that harvestmen that lost sensory legs roosted in tree bark less frequently, but on mossy trees more frequently. On the contrary, we did not observe changes in habitat use for eight-legged animals or animals that lost locomotor legs. This change might be related to sensory exploration and navigation. Lastly, we found that recapture rates across substrates were not affected by the type of legs lost, suggesting that leg loss does not impact survival. This potential lack of effect might play a role in why a defensive strategy like autotomy is so prevalent in harvestmen despite the lack of regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Escalante
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, & ManagementUniversity of California ‐ BerkeleyCAUSA
- Present address:
Behavioral & Molecular Ecology GroupDepartment of Biological SciencesUniversity of Wisconsin – MilwaukeeMilwaukeeWIUSA
| | - Damian O. Elias
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, & ManagementUniversity of California ‐ BerkeleyCAUSA
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Krueger T, Cross AT, Fleischmann A. Size matters: trap size primarily determines prey spectra differences among sympatric species of carnivorous sundews. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Thilo Krueger
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences Curtin University Bentley Perth Western Australia 6102 Australia
| | - Adam T. Cross
- ARC Centre for Mine Site Restoration School of Molecular and Life Sciences Curtin University BentleyPerth Western Australia 6102 Australia
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6
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Emberts Z, Escalante I, Bateman PW. The ecology and evolution of autotomy. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:1881-1896. [PMID: 31240822 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 05/29/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Autotomy, the self-induced loss of a body part, occurs throughout Animalia. A lizard dropping its tail to escape predation is an iconic example, however, autotomy occurs in a diversity of other organisms. Octopuses can release their arms, crabs can drop their claws, and bugs can amputate their legs. The diversity of organisms that can autotomize body parts has led to a wealth of research and several taxonomically focused reviews. These reviews have played a crucial role in advancing our understanding of autotomy within their respective groups. However, because of their taxonomic focus, these reviews are constrained in their ability to enhance our understanding of autotomy. Here, we aim to synthesize research on the ecology and evolution of autotomy throughout Animalia, building a unified framework on which future studies can expand. We found that the ability to drop an appendage has evolved multiple times throughout Animalia and that once autotomy has evolved, selection appears to act on the removable appendage to increase the efficacy and/or efficiency of autotomy. This could explain why some autotomizable body parts are so elaborate (e.g. brightly coloured). We also show that there are multiple benefits, and variable costs, associated with autotomy. Given this variation, we generate an economic theory of autotomy (modified from the economic theory of escape) which makes predictions about when an individual should resort to autotomy. Finally, we show that the loss of an autotomizable appendage can have numerous consequences on population and community dynamics. By taking this broad taxonomic approach, we identified patterns of autotomy that transcend specific lineages and highlight clear directions for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Emberts
- Department of Biology, University of Florida, 876 Newell Drive, Gainesville, FL, 32611, USA
| | - Ignacio Escalante
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy, & Management, University of California, 140 Mulford Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA
| | - Philip W Bateman
- Behavioural Ecology Lab, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, 6845, Australia
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