Flexibility in feeding periodicity of a grazing mayfly in response to different concentrations of benthivorous fish

Schneider, Jana; Worischka, Susanne; Hellmann, Claudia; Benndorf, Jürgen; Winkelmann, Carola

doi:10.1016/j.limno.2013.10.002

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…However, scraping mayflies typically reduce foraging activities in the presences of predatory fishes (e.g. McIntosh & Townsend, 1995;Schneider et al, 2014), so the removal of predatory fishes may have promoted grazing by scrapers, which in turn could have limited any increase in algal biomass in the fish-free pools where all macroconsumers had been removed. Nor could we detect any change in leaf-litter breakdown rates.…”

Section: Top-down Control By Macroconsumers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are high densities of fishes and shrimp associated with top‐down control of tropical benthic communities? A test in three Hong Kong streams

Dudgeon

2015

Freshwater Biology

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Summary Top‐down control of benthic communities by fishes in temperate and Neotropical streams has received considerable attention, yet relatively little is known about the occurrence or strength of such top‐down control in tropical Asian streams. We undertook pool‐scale removals of an entire macroconsumer assemblage of fishes and predatory shrimp, as well as its component guilds (algivores versus predators), in three Hong Kong streams during the dry season and monitored the responses of periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrates (predominantly insects) and leaf‐litter breakdown. Pools supported high densities and biomass of predatory macroconsumers. Algivorous balitorid fishes had a mean density of 30.1 indiv m−2 (range: 1.5–58.2 indiv m−2) and a wet‐weight biomass of 20.9 g m−2 (range: 1.6–34.2 g m−2); values for predatory fishes (mainly a nemacheilid and a goby) were 9.4 indiv m−2 (range: 7.3–11.1 indiv m−2) and 29.7 g m−2 (range: 24.1–38.0 g m−2). Densities of predatory palaemonid shrimp were likewise high (mean: 14.0 indiv m−2; range: 8.9–19.0 indiv m−2). Despite high macroconsumer standing stocks, there was little evidence of top‐down control of benthic communities. The removal of algivorous fishes had no effects on algal biomass, periphyton accumulation, silt accrual or abundance of benthic insects. The removal of all predators (fishes and shrimp), as well as the removal of all macroconsumers, was associated with a small increase in the density of insect scrapers (especially baetid mayflies), although no such effect was evident when predatory fishes (but not shrimp) were removed. Apparently, shrimp substituted for the role of predatory fishes by cropping any excess prey. However, the removal of the entire predatory guild or all macroconsumers produced no additional changes in macroinvertebrate assemblages, nor any influence on periphyton or leaf‐litter breakdown. The pool‐scale approach used in this investigation, combined with the inclusion of three study streams, should have provided a realistic picture of the significance of top‐down control of benthic communities by macroconsumers. Statistical power may have been limited by logistical constraints on the number of replicate pools. Localised nutrient limitation caused by the removal of macroconsumers might have contributed to the apparent weakness of top‐down control of benthic communities. However, given the high standing stocks of fishes and shrimps, it is remarkable that experimental manipulations resulted in generally small or negligible effect sizes.

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Section: Top-down Control By Macroconsumers?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Are high densities of fishes and shrimp associated with top‐down control of tropical benthic communities? A test in three Hong Kong streams

Dudgeon

2015

Freshwater Biology

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“…We used concentration as a proxy for group size, following previous work (Schneider et al, 2014), although the effect of group size on odour plumes is more complex. When individuals group together, they produce a greater number of odour filaments (Monismith et al, 1990; Wilson & Weissburg, 2012) that cover a wider area (Webster & Weissburg, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If the risk of predation increases too much with group size, aggregation would be counterproductive in species that cannot otherwise defend themselves. Here, we explore this question from the perspective of three-spine sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) locating odour sources of differing concentration (as a proxy for prey group size (Hill & Weissburg, 2014; Schneider et al, 2014)—but see discussion) in flowing water, to test the hypothesis that increasing prey (bloodworm) cue concentration increases the risk to prey in flowing water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disturbed flow in an aquatic environment may create a sensory refuge for aggregated prey

Johannesen

Dunn

Morrell

2017

PeerJ

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Predators use olfactory cues moved within water and air to locate prey. Because prey aggregations may produce more cue and be easier to detect, predation could limit aggregation size. However, disturbance in the flow may diminish the reliability of odour as a prey cue, impeding predator foraging success and efficiency. We explore how different cue concentrations (as a proxy for prey group size) affect risk to prey by fish predators in disturbed (more turbulent or mixed) and non-disturbed (less mixed) flowing water. We find that increasing odour cue concentration increases predation risk and disturbing the flow reduces predation risk. At high cue concentration fish were able to locate the cue source in both disturbed and non-disturbed flow, but at medium concentrations, predators only located the cue source more often than expected by chance in non-disturbed flow. This suggests that objects disturbing flow provide a sensory refuge allowing prey to form larger groups, but that group sizes may be limited by level of disturbance to the flow.

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“…It is also clear that chemical cues from predators affect foraging behavior and trophic relationships (Abrams, 1983;Juliano & Gravel, 2002;Koch et al, 2007;Camacho & Thacker, 2013;Naddafi & Rudstam, 2013;Schneider et al, 2014). The idea that defensive compounds can affect community organization, trophic webs, and biogeochemical processes has been proposed (McClintock & Baker, 2001;Pohnert et al, 2007;Hay, 2009), and in marine Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Macroinvertebrates have demonstrated vast behavioral responses to predator chemical cues (Burks & Lodge, 2002;Dodson et al, 1994), whereby the indirect effects of these compounds elicit decreased browsing, foraging, and reproductive activity (Juliano & Gravel, 2002;Koch et al, 2007;Schneider et al, 2014), reduced predatory behavior (Wisenden et al, 1997), altered habitat use (Camacho & Thacker, 2013), and increased attachment strength to substrates and aggregation rate (Naddafi & Rudstam, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of newt chemical cues on the distribution and foraging behavior of stream macroinvertebrates

Bucciarelli

Kats

2014

Hydrobiologia

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Many amphibians possess noxious or toxic substances for self defense. These compounds have been characterized largely as chemical defenses, but may promote ecological and evolutionary processes. The California newt, Taricha torosa, possesses a potent neurotoxin, tetrodotoxin (TTX), which serves as a chemical defense, chemical cue to conspecifics, and selection pressure that has selected for evolved resistance in a predator. However, the potential effects of TTX upon the broader community and on behavior, in general, have been overlooked. Field assays conducted during the newt breeding season indicate that the macroinvertebrate community responds to adult newt chemical cues by altering foraging behavior. In these assays, significantly fewer macroinvertebrates were found in experimental areas with enclosed newts relative to enclosures with a non-predatory amphibian. Laboratory bioassays showed that dragonfly nymphs (Anax junius) reduced predatory behavior and moved less in the presence of adult newt chemical cues. When exposed to TTX, nymph mean angular velocities were reduced four fold and mean velocity magnitude was reduced threefold relative to controls. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that chemical stimuli from predators, and TTX specifically, can shape species interactions at lower trophic levels and potentially affect community organization.

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Flexibility in feeding periodicity of a grazing mayfly in response to different concentrations of benthivorous fish

Cited by 10 publications

References 57 publications

Are high densities of fishes and shrimp associated with top‐down control of tropical benthic communities? A test in three Hong Kong streams

Are high densities of fishes and shrimp associated with top‐down control of tropical benthic communities? A test in three Hong Kong streams

Disturbed flow in an aquatic environment may create a sensory refuge for aggregated prey

Effects of newt chemical cues on the distribution and foraging behavior of stream macroinvertebrates

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