Sex demographics alter the effect of habitat structure on predation by a temporary pond specialist

Cuthbert, Ross N.; Dalu, Tatenda; Wasserman, Ryan J.; Weyl, Olaf L. F.; Froneman, P. William; Callaghan, Amanda; Dick, Jaimie T. A.

doi:10.1007/s10750-019-04142-8

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Hauzy et al., 2010). The remaining ones reported a concave‐down relationship with the longest handling time at intermediate levels of HC (Hoddle, 2003), stepwise or monotone decline (Kalinkat, Brose, et al., 2013; Wasserman et al., 2016), or stepwise or monotone increase with HC (Alexander et al., 2012; Cuthbert et al., 2020; Long et al., 2012; Table S1). As with the attack rate, some of the results depended on the experimental or modelling context (Barrios‐O'Neill et al., 2015; Wasserman et al., 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the nonlinear effects of habitat complexity on functional responses

Mocq

Soukup

Näslund

et al. 2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Structural complexity of habitats modifies trophic interactions by providing refuges and altering predator and prey behaviour. Nonlinear effects on trophic interaction strengths driven by these mechanisms may alter food web dynamics and community structure in response to habitat modifications. However, changes in functional response, the relationship between prey density and feeding rate, along habitat complexity (HC) gradients are little understood. We quantified functional responses along a HC gradient from an entirely unstructured to highly structured habitat in a freshwater system, using dragonfly larvae (Aeshna cyanea) preying on Chaoborus obscuripes larvae. To disentangle mechanisms by which changes in HC affect functional responses, we used two different approaches—a population‐level and a behavioural experiment—applied an information theoretic approach to identify plausible links between HC and functional response parameters, and compared our results to previous studies. Functional response shape did not change, but we found strong evidence for nonlinear dependence of attack rate and handling time on HC in our study. Combined results from both experiments imply that attack rate increased stepwise between the unstructured and structured habitats in line with the threshold hypothesis, because the predators gained better access to the prey. Handling time was lowest at an intermediate HC level in the population‐level experiment while the direct estimate of handling time did not vary with HC in the behavioural experiment. These differences point towards HC‐driven changes in foraging activity and other predator and prey behaviour. Most previous studies reported stepwise decrease in attack rate in line with the threshold hypothesis or no change with increasing HC. Moreover, changes in the handling time parameter with HC appear to be relatively common but not conforming to the threshold hypothesis. Overall, increased HC appears to, respectively, weaken and strengthen trophic links in 2D and 3D predator–prey interactions. We conclude that detailed understanding of HC effects on food webs requires complementary experimental approaches across HC gradients that consider predator foraging strategies and predator and prey behaviour. Such studies can also help guide conservation efforts as addition of structural elements is frequently used for restoration of degraded aquatic habitats.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Disentangling the nonlinear effects of habitat complexity on functional responses

Mocq

Soukup

Näslund

et al. 2021

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Studies on temporary wetland species have focussed mainly on taxonomy and biodiversity (Bird et al, 2019), meta‐community processes (Vanschoenwinkel et al, 2007, 2011b) and, more recently, on trophic interactions (Cuthbert et al, 2020; Dalu et al, 2017; Wasserman et al, 2018). To date, only a handful of studies have investigated the phylogeography of branchiopod crustaceans in temporary wetlands, mostly in Europe, North Africa and Australia (Kappas et al, 2017; Lukić et al, 2019; Pinceel et al, 2013; Reniers et al, 2013; Vanschoenwinkel et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistent effects of historical sea levels on the population structure of a temporary wetland copepod

et al. 2023

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Temporary wetland ecosystems are common in arid and semi‐arid environments, and are inhabited by diverse invertebrate communities. Little is known about the dynamics of genetic connectivity in the geographically scattered populations of these wetland specialists. The current study investigated the spatial genetic structure and dispersal history of a recently described calanoid copepod, Lovenula raynerae, reported from temporary wetlands in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. We tested whether the species represents a single, well‐connected population or comprises different regional genetic groups, some of which may be rare or endangered. Mitochondrial COI sequences were generated for 365 specimens from 46 temporary wetlands spread across the species' known distribution range. Isolation‐by‐distance and isolation‐by‐environment patterns of partitioning genetic variations across the landscape were evaluated. In addition, the presence of historical impediments to gene flow between contemporary populations was investigated using a combination of Monmonier's algorithm and Bayesian reconstruction of phylogeographical diffusion in continuous space. The wetland populations were highly structured across the landscape and could be assigned to six distinct evolutionary lineages, potentially representing some level of cryptic speciation. Two distinct phases were identified in the dispersal history of these lineages. Initially, dispersal only occurred inland of a postulated barrier, but eventually the barrier disappeared and the species extended its range by spreading into regions close to the coastline. Molecular dating shows that the barrier represents the upper limit of the coastline during the Pliocene, and that its crossing was facilitated by Pliocene sea regression in southern Africa. Our finding shows that complex demographic histories can be preserved in the mitochondrial DNA of temporary wetland crustaceans because of limited effective gene flow after initial colonisation events. This makes them an interesting study system to explore the long‐term effects of climate change on arid ecosystem communities.

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“…In recent decades, invasive submerged macrophyte species have established and proliferated in waterbodies worldwide, with resultant negative effects on ecosystems (Schultz and Dibble, 2012;Getsinger et al, 2014;Lu et al, 2018), with many species capable of spreading effectively via vegetative fragments (Heidbüchel and Hussner, 2020). Submerged plants can also provide some refuge from predators of mosquitoes (Cuthbert et al, 2020b). Owing to the reported development of dense monospecific macrophyte swards in aquatic ecosystems (Caffrey et al, 2010), the presence of submerged plants may have direct larvicidal effects on mosquitoes where they coexist.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic plant extracts and coverage mediate larval mosquito survivorship and development

et al. 2020

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Sex demographics alter the effect of habitat structure on predation by a temporary pond specialist

Cited by 5 publications

References 57 publications

Disentangling the nonlinear effects of habitat complexity on functional responses

Disentangling the nonlinear effects of habitat complexity on functional responses

Persistent effects of historical sea levels on the population structure of a temporary wetland copepod

Aquatic plant extracts and coverage mediate larval mosquito survivorship and development

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