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Contemporary studies on fish feeding: the proceedings of GUTSHOP ’84 pp 159–170Cite as

Predator-mediated habitat use: some consequences for species interactions

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Part of the book series: Developments in environmental biology of fishes ((DEBF,volume 7))

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Behavioral responses to predators can have a major impact on a fishes’ diet and habitat choice. Studies with the bluegill sunfish, Lepomis macrochirus, demonstrate that bluegills undergo pronounced shifts in diet and habitat use as they grow in response to changes in their vulnerability to predators. Other species of fish exhibit similar habitat shifts with body size, presumably also in response to changing predation risks and/or foraging gains. An important but little appreciated consequence of this type of predator-mediated habitat use is that predation risk, by structuring size and/or age-specific resource use, may also indirectly affect species interactions. This paper discusses some of the ways in which behavioral responses to predators may affect intra- and interspecific competition in fish. Observational and experimental studies with sunfish (Centrarchidae) provide most of the examples. These studies suggest that the ‘nonlethal’ effects of predators may be as important as the actual killing of prey.

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  1. Ohio Cooperative Fishery Research Unit and Department of Zoology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA

    Gary Mittelbach

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  1. Gary Mittelbach
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Charles A. Simenstad Gregor M. Cailliet

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Mittelbach, G. (1986). Predator-mediated habitat use: some consequences for species interactions. In: Simenstad, C.A., Cailliet, G.M. (eds) Contemporary studies on fish feeding: the proceedings of GUTSHOP ’84. Developments in environmental biology of fishes, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1158-6_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-1158-6_13

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