Measuring the benefit of a defensive trait: Vigilance and survival probability

IF 4.4 2区 环境科学与生态学 Q1 ECOLOGY
Ecology Pub Date : 2024-09-30 DOI:10.1002/ecy.4429
William H. Ellsworth, Scott D. Peacor, Richard B. Chandler, L. Mike Conner, Elina P. Garrison, Karl V. Miller, Michael J. Cherry
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Abstract

Defensive traits are hypothesized to benefit prey by reducing predation risk from a focal predator but come at a cost to the fitness of the prey. Variation in the expression of defensive traits is seen among individuals within the same population, and in the same individual in response to changes in the environment (i.e., phenotypically plastic responses). It is the relative magnitude of the cost and benefit of the defensive trait that underlies the defensive trait expression and its consequences to the community. However, whereas the cost has received much attention in ecological research, the benefit is seldom examined. Even in a defensive trait as extensively studied as vigilance, there are few studies of the purported benefit of the behavior, namely that vigilance enhances survival. We examined whether prey vigilance increased survival and quantified that benefit in a natural system, with white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) experiencing unmanipulated levels of predation risk from Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi). Deer that spent more time vigilant (as measured by head position using camera trap data) had a higher probability of survival. Indeed, an individual deer that was vigilant 75% of the time was more than three times as likely to be killed by panthers over the course of a year than a deer that was vigilant 95% of the time. Our results therefore show that within-population variation in the expression of a defensive trait has profound consequences for the benefit it confers. Our results provide empirical evidence supporting a long-held but seldom-tested hypothesis, that vigilance is a behavior that reduces the probability of predation and quantifies the benefit of this defensive trait. Our work furthers an understanding of the net effects of a trait on prey fitness and predator–prey interactions, within-population variation in traits, and predation risk effects.

衡量防御性特征的益处:警惕性与生存概率
据推测,防御性特征可降低重点捕食者的捕食风险,从而使猎物受益,但猎物的健康状况则要付出代价。在同一种群的不同个体之间,以及同一个体对环境变化的反应(即表型可塑性反应)中,防御性特征的表达存在差异。防御性性状的表现及其对群落的影响取决于防御性性状的成本和收益的相对大小。然而,成本在生态学研究中备受关注,而收益却很少被研究。即使是像警惕性这样被广泛研究的防御性特征,也很少有人研究这种行为的所谓益处,即警惕性能提高生存率。我们研究了猎物的警惕性是否会提高生存率,并在一个自然系统中量化了这一益处,白尾鹿(Odocoileus virginianus)经历的佛罗里达豹(Puma concolor coryi)的捕食风险水平未作任何调整。花更多时间保持警惕的鹿(通过摄像头捕获的数据来测量头部位置)有更高的存活概率。事实上,在一年的时间里,75%时间保持警惕的鹿被美洲豹猎杀的几率是95%时间保持警惕的鹿的三倍多。因此,我们的研究结果表明,防御特性在种群内的表达差异会对其带来的益处产生深远影响。我们的研究结果提供了经验证据,支持了一个长期存在但很少被验证的假设,即警惕是一种降低捕食概率的行为,并量化了这种防御性特征的益处。我们的研究进一步加深了对某一性状对猎物适应性和捕食者-猎物相互作用的净效应、性状的种群内变异以及捕食风险效应的理解。
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来源期刊
Ecology
Ecology 环境科学-生态学
CiteScore
8.30
自引率
2.10%
发文量
332
审稿时长
3 months
期刊介绍: Ecology publishes articles that report on the basic elements of ecological research. Emphasis is placed on concise, clear articles documenting important ecological phenomena. The journal publishes a broad array of research that includes a rapidly expanding envelope of subject matter, techniques, approaches, and concepts: paleoecology through present-day phenomena; evolutionary, population, physiological, community, and ecosystem ecology, as well as biogeochemistry; inclusive of descriptive, comparative, experimental, mathematical, statistical, and interdisciplinary approaches.
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