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Multiple predator effects result in risk reduction for prey across multiple prey densities

  • Community Ecology
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Abstract

Investigating how prey density influences a prey’s combined predation risk from multiple predator species is critical for understanding the widespread importance of multiple predator effects. We conducted experiments that crossed six treatments consisting of zero, one, or two predator species (hellgrammites, greenside darters, and creek chubs) with three treatments in which we varied the density of mayfly prey. None of the multiple predator effects in our system were independent, and instead, the presence of multiple predator species resulted in risk reduction for the prey across both multiple predator combinations and all three levels of prey density. Risk reduction is likely to have population-level consequences for the prey, resulting in larger prey populations than would be predicted if the effects of multiple predator species were independent. For one of the two multiple predator combinations, the magnitude of risk reduction marginally increased with prey density. As a result, models predicting the combined risk from multiple predator species in this system will sometimes need to account for prey density as a factor influencing per-capita prey death rates.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jason Cashmore, David Chalcraft, Jon Hoekstra, Nicholas Ozburn, Stacy Salavitch, and Molly Tranel for help in the field and/or lab. We would also like to acknowledge the suggestions of David Chalcraft, Steven Kohler, Ken Paige, Gene Robinson, Ken Schmidt, Jeff Steinmetz and the rest of the Soluk lab group. Funding for this project came from the University of Illinois Graduate College and a NSF dissertation improvement grant (DEB-0104644). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Logistical support during the writing of this manuscript was provided by Michael Willig, the Department of Biological Sciences at Texas Tech University, and the Department of Biology at East Carolina University.

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Author notes

  1. Daniel A. Soluk

    Present address: Department of Biology, University of South Dakota, 414 Clark Street, Vermillion, SD, 57069, USA

  2. Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft

    Present address: Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 27858, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft

  2. Center for Aquatic Ecology and Conservation, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, IL, 61820, USA

    Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft & Daniel A. Soluk

Authors
  1. Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft
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  2. Daniel A. Soluk
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Correspondence to Heather D. Vance-Chalcraft.

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Communicated by Steve Kohler

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Vance-Chalcraft, H.D., Soluk, D.A. Multiple predator effects result in risk reduction for prey across multiple prey densities. Oecologia 144, 472–480 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0077-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0077-5

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