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Predator density and the functional responses of coral reef fish

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Abstract

Predation is a key process driving coral reef fish population dynamics, with higher per capita prey mortality rates on reefs with more predators. Reef predators often forage together, and at high densities, they may either cooperate or antagonize one another, thereby causing prey mortality rates to be substantially higher or lower than one would expect if predators did not interact. However, we have a limited mechanistic understanding of how prey mortality rates change with predator densities. We re-analyzed a previously published observational dataset to investigate how the foraging response of the coney grouper (Cephalopholis fulva) feeding on the bluehead wrasse (Thalassoma bifasciatum) changed with shifts in predator and prey densities. Using a model-selection approach, we found that per-predator feeding rates were most consistent with a functional response that declines as predator density increases, suggesting either antagonistic interactions among predators or a shared antipredator behavioral response by the prey. Our findings suggest that variation in predator density (natural or anthropogenic) may have substantial consequences for coral reef fish population dynamics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, #4200-6270 University Blvd., Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    A. C. Stier

  2. Department of Biology and Marine Biology, University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, 28403, USA

    J. W. White

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  1. A. C. Stier
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  2. J. W. White
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Correspondence to A. C. Stier.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Stephen Swearer

A. C. Stier and J. W. White have contributed equally to this article.

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Stier, A.C., White, J.W. Predator density and the functional responses of coral reef fish. Coral Reefs 33, 235–240 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-013-1096-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-013-1096-z

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