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Temporally dynamic sensory landscapes affect prey decision-making and antipredator responses

Project Abstract: 
The landscape of fear (LOF) describes how prey move through a habitat in response to predator presence and the risk associated with predators. However, this viewpoint is narrow and does not take into consideration the role that safety and shelters play in structuring prey responses to predators. The landscape of safety (LOS) illustrates the way in which refuge availability and quality help to dictate where and how prey move throughout a habitat to mitigate risk. This viewpoint also takes into consideration the purposeful movement towards a refuge as opposed to the common line of thinking that prey chaotically move away from predators. Here, we will present crayfish with chemical cues in two different ways as well as shelters of varying qualities in two different spatial arrangements to quantify how prey integrate the LOS with the LOF.
Investigators: 
Status of Research Project: 
Years Active: 
2024
Methods: 
We will create eight flow-through mesocosms (183 cm × 81.28 cm × 81.28 cm: l × w × h) that mimic natural streams and present prey (crayfish) with cues from predators (largemouth bass) as well as shelters of four varying qualities. Water from largemouth bass holdings tanks will be added to experimental arenas via a gravity system. For the constant delivery treatment, the gravity system will be connected to a constant head tank to allow for constant delivery of water into the system, while the pulsatile treatment will only have chemical cues pumped into experimental arenas for half of the experimental period. Each stock tank will have an equal abundance of bass in order to keep chemical cue concentration as similar as possible, as chemical cues enter the water via fish skin, excrement, and gills. We will also alter the spatial context of the LOS by altering the distance that shelters of varying qualities are from the source of predator cue introduction. Because crayfish show preference for shelters with fewer openings, shelters will range from one-opening shelters (highest quality), two- and three-opening shelters (medium quality), and four-opening shelters (lowest quality). All shelters will be constructed from PVC pipes (ID: 7.6 cm) and spatially arranged into one of two configurations. The first spatial arrangement will entail placing shelters in ascending quality (four openings – one opening) from the predator arena. The second arrangement will involve placing shelters in descending quality (one opening – four openings) from the predator arena. This will allow researchers to understand how prey integrate the LOS with the LOF via shelter choice in two different LOFs.
Funding agency: 
Bowling Green state University