Abstract
There is increasing interest in how animals respond to multiple stressors, including potential synergistic or antagonistic interaction between pathogens and perceived predation risk (PPR). For prey that exhibit phenotypic plasticity, it is unclear whether infection and PPR affect behaviour and morphology independently, or in an antagonistic or synergistic manner. Using a 2 × 2 factorial experiment involving green frog (Lithobates clamitans) tadpoles exposed to ranavirus (FV3) and larval dragonflies (Anax spp.), we assessed whether anti-predator responses were affected by infection. We found that activity and feeding were reduced additively by both stressors. Body mass of tadpoles from FV3-exposed tanks was lighter relative to control and PPR-only tanks, while metabolism was comparable across treatments. We found that FV3 exposure compromised morphometric responses to PPR in an antagonistic manner: tadpoles exposed to both treatments had restricted changes in tail depth compared to those receiving singular treatment. We conclude that multiple stressors can have complex and substantive effects on organisms, and that interactions between stressors may yield a range of responses depending on the level of exposure and sensitivity of the organism. Additional work should more fully determine mechanisms underlying the complex interplay between infection and predation risk, across a range of environmental conditions.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by NSERC Discovery and Canada Research Chairs Grants, and approved by the Trent University Animal Care Committee. All applicable institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. We are grateful to the Murray lab for helpful comments and assistance with lab work.
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JR and DM conceived and designed the experiments. JR conducted the lab work and analyzed the data with the guidance of DM. JR wrote the manuscript, with detailed editorial input from DM.
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Communicated by Ross Andrew Alford.
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Rae, J., Murray, D. Pathogen vs. predator: ranavirus exposure dampens tadpole responses to perceived predation risk. Oecologia 191, 325–334 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04501-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-019-04501-1