Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem
Habitat complexity can profoundly influence interactions between predators and their prey due to changes to foraging efficiencies. In aquatic systems, habitat alterations can alter pursuit times and swimming behaviours of predator–prey participants, which in turn could mediate the strength of their...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Diversity |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/6/431 |
| _version_ | 1797488178537431040 |
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| author | Pierre William Froneman Ross Noel Cuthbert |
| author_facet | Pierre William Froneman Ross Noel Cuthbert |
| author_sort | Pierre William Froneman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Habitat complexity can profoundly influence interactions between predators and their prey due to changes to foraging efficiencies. In aquatic systems, habitat alterations can alter pursuit times and swimming behaviours of predator–prey participants, which in turn could mediate the strength of their interactions and, thus, population dynamics. The lower reaches of estuarine ecosystems are typically characterised by extensive beds of submerged macrophytes that might influence the trophic dynamics between pelagic predators and their prey. Here, we investigate the influence of increasing habitat complexity on the consumption of the calanoid copepod, <i>Paracartia longipatella</i>, by adult male and female mysid, <i>Mesopodopsis wooldridgei</i>, by means of a comparative functional response approach. Using structures that resembled aquatic vegetation, we quantified and compared feeding rates, attack rates, and handling times across the habitat gradient, and we questioned whether responses to habitat complexity are different between sexes. Feeding rates related significantly negatively to increasing habitat complexity for both males and females, with Type II functional responses consistently displayed. Functional response differed significantly across habitat complexities, with feeding rates at low and intermediate prey densities significantly greater in the absence of habitat compared to more complex structures for both predator sexes. Results of the current study demonstrate that increased habitat complexity mediates outcomes of interactions between <i>M. wooldridgei</i> and the calanoid copepod, <i>P. longipatella</i> across predator sexes, and possibly for other predators and prey in shallow waters. Owing to spatiotemporal differences in habitat structure within shallow waters, the strength of interactions in this predator–prey system likely differs in areas where they co-exist. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:59:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-72a8b8f7d166427fbc44d4bd83022a05 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-2818 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:59:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diversity |
| spelling | doaj.art-72a8b8f7d166427fbc44d4bd83022a052023-11-23T16:19:56ZengMDPI AGDiversity1424-28182022-05-0114643110.3390/d14060431Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water EcosystemPierre William Froneman0Ross Noel Cuthbert1Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Makhanda 6140, South AfricaDepartment of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Makhanda 6140, South AfricaHabitat complexity can profoundly influence interactions between predators and their prey due to changes to foraging efficiencies. In aquatic systems, habitat alterations can alter pursuit times and swimming behaviours of predator–prey participants, which in turn could mediate the strength of their interactions and, thus, population dynamics. The lower reaches of estuarine ecosystems are typically characterised by extensive beds of submerged macrophytes that might influence the trophic dynamics between pelagic predators and their prey. Here, we investigate the influence of increasing habitat complexity on the consumption of the calanoid copepod, <i>Paracartia longipatella</i>, by adult male and female mysid, <i>Mesopodopsis wooldridgei</i>, by means of a comparative functional response approach. Using structures that resembled aquatic vegetation, we quantified and compared feeding rates, attack rates, and handling times across the habitat gradient, and we questioned whether responses to habitat complexity are different between sexes. Feeding rates related significantly negatively to increasing habitat complexity for both males and females, with Type II functional responses consistently displayed. Functional response differed significantly across habitat complexities, with feeding rates at low and intermediate prey densities significantly greater in the absence of habitat compared to more complex structures for both predator sexes. Results of the current study demonstrate that increased habitat complexity mediates outcomes of interactions between <i>M. wooldridgei</i> and the calanoid copepod, <i>P. longipatella</i> across predator sexes, and possibly for other predators and prey in shallow waters. Owing to spatiotemporal differences in habitat structure within shallow waters, the strength of interactions in this predator–prey system likely differs in areas where they co-exist.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/6/431predationphysical structurefunctional responsemysidcopepod |
| spellingShingle | Pierre William Froneman Ross Noel Cuthbert Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem Diversity predation physical structure functional response mysid copepod |
| title | Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem |
| title_full | Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem |
| title_fullStr | Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem |
| title_full_unstemmed | Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem |
| title_short | Habitat Complexity Alters Predator-Prey Interactions in a Shallow Water Ecosystem |
| title_sort | habitat complexity alters predator prey interactions in a shallow water ecosystem |
| topic | predation physical structure functional response mysid copepod |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-2818/14/6/431 |
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