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University of Michigan Biological Station

The University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) was founded in 1909.

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Investigating the impact space of predators

Aquatic
Project Abstract: 
Prey use the information extracted from sensory stimuli (i.e., visual, mechanical, and chemical) emanating from a predator to make behavioral decisions and drive physiological and morphological changes. To create a more complete picture of NCEs and trophic cascades, future research needs to consider entire process from stimulus production by the predator, activity and movement of predatory (such as hunting mode), transmission and movement of stimuli through an environment , and the sensory ecology of the prey (sensitivity, modality, thresholds, etc.), thus creating the impact space.The goal of this study is to understand how the sensitivity of prey to predator stimuli would alter the effect of the impact space. Previous research has shown that multiple species of crayfish have different sensitivities to the alarm cues from their conspecifics and hetraspecifics (Hazlet 1994). In this study, we will be investigating how multiple species of crayfish will respond to the same predator cues. This work is essential to understand how the sensitivity of the sensory ecology of prey takes part in creating the impact space.
Investigator(s): 
Paul Moore
Ana M Jurcak
Years Active: 
2015
Methods: 
This experiment will be a 2 x 3 design with the first factor being predator presence (no predator or predator) and the second factor being prey species (Orconectes virilis, Orconectes rusticus, and Orconectes propinquus). There will be 6 different treatments in this study: Orconectes virilis with no predator, Orconectes virilis with a predator, Orconectes rusticus with no predator, Orconectes rusticus with a predator, Orconectes propinquus with no predator and Orconectes propinquus with a predator. Each treatment will have 10 trials, with a total number of 60 trials for the study. A naïve crayfish will be used for each trial to prevent any learning by the crayfish. The trials will last for 4 hours each. Within each testing arena there will be a shelter and food source for the crayfish. Each trial will be videotaped and time budgets will be calculated to for how much time crayfish spend in the different areas of the prey section: shelter opening, shelter, free, and food areas. The amount of time spent performing these behaviors will be used in statistical analysis to compare between the predator presence and the species. This study will also investigate the differences in flicking behavior of the crayfish to the presence and absence of the predator odor. The experiment will also be a 2x3 design with the first factor being predator presence (no predator or predator) and the second factor being prey species (Orconectes virilis, Orconectes rusticus, and Orconectes propinquus). There will be 6 different treatments in this study: Orconectes virilis with no predator, Orconectes virilis with a predator, Orconectes rusticus with no predator, Orconectes rusticus with a predator, Orconectes propinquus with no predator, and Orconectes propinquus with a predator. Each treatment will have 10 trials, with a total number of 60 trials for the study. A naïve crayfish will be used for each trial to prevent any learning by the crayfish. All trials will last for 15 minutes and will be video recorded. The videos will be analyzed to for the number of antennule flicks of each crayfish.