Notonecta exhibit threat-sensitive,predator-induced dispersal |
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Authors: | Shannon J McCauley Locke Rowe |
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Institution: | Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3B2 |
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Abstract: | Dispersal is a central process determining community structure in heterogeneous landscapes, and species interactions within habitats may be a major determinant of dispersal. Although the effects of species interactions on dispersal within habitats have been well studied, how species interactions affect the movement of individuals between habitats in a landscape has received less attention. We conducted two experiments to assess the extent to which predation risk affects dispersal from an aquatic habitat by a flight-capable semi-aquatic insect (Notonecta undulata). Exposure to non-lethal (caged) fish fed conspecifics increased dispersal rates in N. undulata. Moreover, dispersal rate was positively correlated with the level of risk imposed by the fish; the greater the number of notonectids consumed by the caged fish, the greater the dispersal rate from the habitat. These results suggest that risk within a habitat can affect dispersal among habitats in a landscape and thus affect community structure on a much greater scale than the direct effect of predation itself. |
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Keywords: | predator– prey Notonecta dispersal remote-control effects |
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