Does phylogenetic inertia explain the evolution of ineffective antipredator behavior in a sunfish-salamander system?

Sih, Andrew; Kats, Lee B.; Maurer, Eric F.

doi:10.1007/s002650000263

Cited by 33 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…At our study sites, A. texanum do not appear to co-occur with any important visual predators (e.g., fish, odonates, or large salamanders). Although A. texanum does not typically co-occur with fish, both A. barbouri and A. texanum larvae respond to predatory fish (and to fish chemical cues) with increased refuge use and decreased activity Sih and Kats 1991;Sih et al 1988Sih et al , 2000Sih et al , 2003. A. barbouri, however, generally show stronger responses than A. texanum (Sih et al 2000.…”

Section: Systemmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Larvae of the streamside salamander, Ambystoma barbouri, are significantly darker than their sister species, the smallmouth salamander, A. texanum (Garcia et al 2003). A. barbouri also show stronger antipredator responses to predatory fish cues than A. texanum Sih et al 2000). The evolutionary divergence in color and behavior between A. barbouri and A. texanum may be, in part, due to differences in predation risk between their habitats.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Krause and Petranka (1989) proposed that, within the last 10,000 years, A. texanum colonized from ponds into ephemeral streams and evolved into A. barbouri. The move into streams resulted in exposure to at least three novel selection pressures for A. barbouri that could affect the evolution of color and behavior: increased fish predation, enhanced habitat ephemerality, and increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) (Petranka 1983;Sih et al 2000). Predation accounts for a substantial amount of larval mortality in A. barbouri, particularly in streams with predatory sunfish (Petranka 1983;Sih et al 1992).…”

Section: Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Color change and color-dependent behavior in response to predation risk in the salamander sister species Ambystoma barbouri and Ambystoma texanum

Garcia

Sih

2003

Oecologia

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Although many organisms show multiple types of trait responses to predation risk (e.g., shifts in behavior, morphology, color, chemistry or life history), relatively few studies have examined how prey integrate these multiple responses. We studied the joint expression of color and behavioral responses to predation risk in two sister species of salamander larvae that live in habitats with different selection pressures. We examined responses to predation risk in three situations that differed in availability of refuge and substrate color heterogeneity, and thus availability of behavioral options for reducing risk. Relative to Ambystoma texanum, A. barbouri larvae were darker in color and showed a greater range of color change. With no variation in background color or refuge available, both species exhibited color change to better match the available background. The degree of color change showed by both species, however, did not depend on predation risk. Given the option to choose between light and dark substrates, A. texanum exhibited behavioral background matching (i.e., they preferred substrates that matched their own body color), while A. barbouri's substrate preferences did not depend on their initial body color. Instead, A. barbouri responded to risk by showing a strong preference for dark substrates, followed by a change to a darker body color. With refuge available, A. texanum's refuge use was color-dependent; larvae that were well camouflaged spent less time in refuge. In contrast, A. barbouri showed strong refuge use in response to risk, regardless of their body color. Overall, these results reflect how conflicting selection pressures (predation risk, habitat ephemerality, risk of UV damage) and species differences in mean color and ability to change color can govern the interplay of complementary and compensatory behavioral and color responses to predation risk.

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Section: Systemmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Color change and color-dependent behavior in response to predation risk in the salamander sister species Ambystoma barbouri and Ambystoma texanum

Garcia

Sih

2003

Oecologia

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“…The concept of temperament implies a consistency in the character over time and across different behavioural contexts and ecological situations (Clark & Ehlinger, 1987;Wilson et al, 1994;Gosling, 2001;Sih et al, 2004). For instance, certain streamside salamander Ambystoma barbouri individuals consistently exhibit high activity levels, emerging frequently from, and moving actively while outside of refuges (Sih, Kats & Maurer, 2000). This temperament trait is consistent under different behavioural contexts (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…antipredator and foraging behaviour) and under different ecological situations (e.g. presence and absence of fish predators; Sih et al, 2000). In the psychological literature, individual temperament is often described by a series of temperament axes or traits that typically include activity, tameness, aggressiveness, exploration, sociability and boldness (Gosling, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildlife conservation and animal temperament: causes and consequences of evolutionary change for captive, reintroduced, and wild populations

McDougall¹,

Réale²,

Sol³

et al. 2005

Animal Conservation

259

190

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We argue that animal temperament is an important concept for wildlife conservation science and review causes and consequences of evolutionary changes in temperament traits that may occur in captive-breeding programmes. An evolutionary perspective is valid because temperament traits are heritable, linked to fitness and potentially subject to intense selection in captivity. Natural, sexual and artificial selection can cause permanent shifts in temperament, reducing the diversity of temperament traits, diversity that may be critical to reintroduction success. Breeding programmes that ignore temperament risk leading the captive population towards domestication. Furthermore, shifts in temperament may involve alterations in linked morphological and physiological traits, and selection may even change functional relationships between traits. Captive-breeding programmes can reduce changes in temperaments by closely monitoring temperament traits, equalizing reproductive success between temperament morphs and using environmental enrichment to reduce captive stress. Under certain circumstances, knowledge about temperament may also provide a useful tool to optimize captive reproduction and to increase reintroduction success. Outside reintroduction programmes, temperament can mediate responses to human contact, hunting, exploitation, habitat fragmentation and disease transmission. Consideration of temperaments could strengthen both captive and wild conservation efforts.

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Anti‐predator mechanisms in evolutionarily predator‐naïve vs. adapted fish larvae

et al. 2019

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It is a fundamental feature of evolution that natural selection acts on individuals to adapt to predation pressure via the development of anti‐predator mechanisms. As such mechanisms are costly in terms of energy and time, species living in habitats where predators are rare or absent were expected to show reduced predator responses. Such a reduction was expected for larvae of the native whitefish (Coregonus wartmanni) in Upper Lake Constance, as these pass their initial stage in a historically predator‐free pelagic habitat and only start to encounter predators in a later ontogenetic stage during which they shift to littoral habitat. However, a recent invader of the pelagic waters of the lake, the three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), is implicated in a severe decline in whitefish recruitment through larval predation. The predator‐naivety effect and its consequences on predation were experimentally tested by comparing predator defenses of different age classes of whitefish with those of roach (Rutilus rutilus) and perch (Perca fluviatilis), two species whose larvae grow up in a predator‐holding habitat. As predator, the three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) was selected. Sticklebacks actively hunted all prey species but predation was high on whitefish only. The addition of zooplankton (Daphnia) as alternative prey for sticklebacks in the experimental setup did not reduce predation on the whitefish larvae, indicating a clear preference for whitefish in this invasive predator. The escape responses of roach and perch were found to be clearly more complex and diverse to those of the predator‐naïve whitefish larvae. Particularly striking was that whitefish often did not show any apparent behavioral response to the approaching predator. Only large whitefish larvae (Table 1: length = 40.8 ± 0.6 mm) appeared capable of escaping predation, and this was correlated with a change in complexity of predator escape responses. Thus, differences in predation pressure for the different larvae species were highly related to the observed interspecific differences in predator defenses, and with the ontogenetic intraspecific change in whitefish from poor and inefficient predator escape responses to complex and more efficient predator escape responses. The evolutionary consequences of stickleback as an invasive predator on whitefish larvae behavior are discussed.

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Does phylogenetic inertia explain the evolution of ineffective antipredator behavior in a sunfish-salamander system?

Cited by 33 publications

References 30 publications

Color change and color-dependent behavior in response to predation risk in the salamander sister species Ambystoma barbouri and Ambystoma texanum

Color change and color-dependent behavior in response to predation risk in the salamander sister species Ambystoma barbouri and Ambystoma texanum

Wildlife conservation and animal temperament: causes and consequences of evolutionary change for captive, reintroduced, and wild populations

Anti‐predator mechanisms in evolutionarily predator‐naïve vs. adapted fish larvae

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