Predator chemicals induce changes in mayfly life history traits: a whole-stream manipulation
Abstract
In high-elevation streams of western Colorado, mayflies (Baetis bicaudatus) develop faster, but mature at a smaller size where trout are present compared to streams where fish are absent. These life history traits reduce the time of larval exposure to trout predation, but cost reduced fecundity. We designed a field experiment involving manipulation of whole streams to determine whether these changes were caused by the presence of brook trout, and specifically, whether they could be triggered by trout chemical cues. In 1999 and 2000, we introduced water from containers with brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) into five naturally fishless streams, and fishless stream water into five adjacent control streams, to determine whether these cues alone could induce the mayfly life history traits we have observed in natural trout streams. As in previous small-scale experiments, the size at which mayflies matured declined significantly in streams with added trout chemicals but did not change in streams with fishless water only. Thus, life history traits similar to those observed in the field were induced within the natural variability inherent in streams. These results demonstrate the strength of this predator–prey interaction and indicate that brook trout are an important agent of natural selection on mayfly life history traits.
Local Knowledge Graph (24 entities)
Related Works
Items connected by shared entities, co-authorship, citations, or semantic similarity.
The influence of predatory fish on mayfly drift: extrapolating from experiments to nature
Variation in mayfly size at metamorphosis as a developmental response to risk of predation
Predator effects on prey population dynamics in open systems
Facilitation strength across environmental and beneficiary trait gradients in stream communities
Novel host plant unmasks heritable variation in plant preference within an insect population
Data from: Lifetime fitness, sex-specific life history, and the maintenance of a polyphenism
Some Factors Historically Affecting The Distribution and Abundance of Fishes In The Gunnison River
Effect of Keystone Mine Effluent on Colonization of Stream Benthos
Ichthyofaunal Studies of the Gunnison River, Colorado
Cited By (154 times, 9 in Knowledge Hub)
Host-parasite ecology of <i>Baetis bicaudatus</i> mayflies and <i>Gasteromermis sp.</i> nematodes in high-altitude streams
Costs of predator-induced phenotypic plasticity: A graphical model for predicting the contribution of non-consumptive and consumptive effects of predators on prey
Large-scale manipulation of mayfly recruitment affects population size
The Ecology of Place
Trade-offs associated with food availability and predator avoidance behavior of a stream mayfly
Predator effects on prey population dynamics in open systems
Linking drift and benthic density along fishless to fish transitions in Rocky Mountain streams
Selective oviposition by the mayfly <i>Baetis bicaudatus</i>
Larval cannibalism, time constraints, and adult fitness in caddisflies that inhabit temporary wetlands
References (38)
6 in Knowledge Hub, 32 external