Resource dynamics influence the strength of non-consumptive predator effects on prey
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
4-1-2009
Abstract
Predators influence prey populations both by consuming individual prey, and by inducing changes in prey behaviour that limit reproduction and survival. Because prey trade-off predation risk for forageing gains, the magnitude of predators' non-consumptive effects should depend on resource availability. Studies of non-consumptive effects generally adopt either of two strategies: (i) maintaining a static ration of the prey's resources; and (ii) using resource populations that vary dynamically in response to prey behaviour. Contrasting these experimental designs using meta-analysis, we evaluated whether resource dynamics influence the magnitude of non-consumptive effects on prey growth, survival, fecundity, population density, forageing rate and habitat use. Predators had a more negative effect on prey demography in dynamic- vs. static-resource experiments. Our results highlight the importance of resource dynamics in mediating the magnitude of non-consumptive effects of predators on prey, and illustrate the often-unintended impacts of experimental design on estimates of effect size in ecological interactions. © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd/CNRS.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Ecology Letters
Volume
12
Issue
4
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Preisser, Evan L., Daniel I. Bolnick, and Jonathan H. Grabowski. "Resource dynamics influence the strength of non-consumptive predator effects on prey." Ecology Letters 12, 4 (2009): 315-323. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01290.x.