Interactive influence of biotic and abiotic cues on the plasticity of preferred body temperatures in a predator-prey system
Autor: | Lumír Gvoždík, Radovan Smolinský |
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Rok vydání: | 2011 |
Předmět: |
Abiotic component
education.field_of_study Food Chain biology Odonata Ecology Eggs Population Population Dynamics Interspecific competition Models Theoretical biology.organism_classification Salamandridae Predation Body Temperature Phenotype Aeshna Ectotherm Larva Developmental plasticity Animals education Predator Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
Zdroj: | Oecologia. 170(1) |
ISSN: | 1432-1939 |
Popis: | The ability to modify phenotypes in response to heterogeneity of the thermal environment represents an important component of an ectotherm's non-genetic adaptive capacity. Despite considerable attention being dedicated to the study of thermally-induced developmental plasticity, whether or not interspecific interactions shape the plastic response in both a predator and its prey remains unknown. We tested several predictions about the joint influence of predator/prey scents and thermal conditions on the plasticity of preferred body temperatures (T (p)) in both actors of this interaction, using a dragonfly nymphs-newt larvae system. Dragonfly nymphs (Aeshna cyanea) and newt eggs (Ichthyosaura alpestris) were subjected to fluctuating cold and warm thermal regimes (7-12 and 12-22°C, respectively) and the presence/absence of a predator or prey chemical cues. Preferred body temperatures were measured in an aquatic thermal gradient (5-33°C) over a 24-h period. Newt T (p) increased with developmental temperature irrespective of the presence/absence of predator cues. In dragonflies, thermal reaction norms for T (p) were affected by the interaction between temperature and prey cues. Specifically, the presence of newt scents in cold regime lowered dragonfly T (p). We concluded that predator-prey interactions influenced thermally-induced plasticity of T (p) but not in a reciprocal fashion. The occurrence of frequency-dependent thermal plasticity may have broad implications for predator-prey population dynamics, the evolution of thermal biology traits, and the consequences of sustaining climate change within ecological communities. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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