Baetis

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Staniczek, Arnold H. - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Godunko, Roman J. - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Soldán Tomáš - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Eino Savolainen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

Barbara L. Peckarsky - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • mayflies avoid sweets fish skin mucus amino sugars stimulate predator avoidance behaviour of Baetis larvae
    Animal Behaviour, 2019
    Co-Authors: Barbara L. Peckarsky, Andrea Landeiradabarca, Maruxa Alvarez
    Abstract:

    Nonconsumptive effects of predators can have knock-on effects on prey fitness, life history and population dynamics. However, the origin of cues stimulating predator avoidance behaviour and the mechanisms underlying prey responses need further investigation. Previous studies revealed that nonconsumptive effects of predatory fish on Baetis mayfly larvae are mediated by water-borne chemical cues released from fish mucus. However, there are conflicting results regarding the nature of these cues and the specific role of the activity of fish mucus-dwelling bacteria in stimulating predator avoidance by prey. To address those conflicting results, we investigated whether bacteria dwelling in fish mucus and/or chemical components present in fish mucus are responsible for the predator avoidance response by Baetis mayflies to salmonids. Results of five bioassays conducted in microcosms revealed that to stimulate Baetis predator avoidance behaviour: (1) bacteria do not need to be present in salmonid mucus; (2) the saccharide fraction of the fish mucus glycosaminoglycan component, but neither the protein fraction nor the whole molecule, functions as a kairomone; (3) specific active components of the saccharide fraction are primarily amino sugars in the form of hexosamines; and (4) there is a minimum dose of mucus and specifically of hexosamine needed. Our study provides the first experimental evidence that mayfly larvae recognize fish predators via the amino sugars naturally present in fish skin mucus. These sugars are released into the water by microbially mediated breakdown of glycosaminoglycans. Further research on the responses of different invertebrate prey species to similar predator cues are needed to understand the evolutionary history of this kairomone recognition behaviour.

  • origin and specificity of predatory fish cues detected by Baetis larvae ephemeroptera insecta
    Animal Behaviour, 2014
    Co-Authors: Maruxa Alvarez, Barbara L. Peckarsky, Andrea Landeiradabarca
    Abstract:

    Some prey respond to predator cues by altering their behaviour, but the response may depend on predator diet and identity. There are few data on how predator feeding status and diet affect the behaviour of aquatic insects and on the specificity of the response of these prey to different predators. We present the results of four bioassays conducted in microcosms to evaluate the relationship between predator fish diet, predator identity and the predator avoidance behaviour of mayfly prey of the genus Baetis to elucidate the origin and specificity of the antipredator response. Results from the first bioassay indicated that the response of Baetis to predatory trout is independent of diet, which enabled us to rule out the following potential origins of the signal: alarm cues emitted by wounded Baetis conspecifics, salivary enzymes released by feeding fish and excretion products that may contain Baetis and conspecific odours. Thus, we focused further experiments on fish cutaneous mucus as the potential origin of cues that cause Baetis to reduce its activity. In two bioassays, we observed that North American Baetis bicaudatus did not distinguish between five freshwater fish species that co-inhabit the same drainage, despite differences in their relative risk of predation (four predatory salmonid species and one omnivorous sucker species). However, in another bioassay, we observed that European Baetis rhodani larvae did not respond to cutaneous mucus of novel predators (carp, seawater turbot or frog), indicating that Baetis do not show a general response to all mucus donor organisms. Our bioassays identified mucus as the potential origin of the cue eliciting antipredator behaviour in Baetis, providing much needed insight into the specificity of fish-associated chemical cues that cause some prey to respond. Experimental approaches similar to the one used in this study may increase our understanding of the role of chemical cues in aquatic ecosystems.

  • do stream mayflies exhibit trade offs between food acquisition and predator avoidance behaviors
    Freshwater Science, 2014
    Co-Authors: Barbara L. Peckarsky, Stephanie A Hernandez
    Abstract:

    AbstractOrganisms often experience trade-offs between behaviors necessary for food acquisition and predator avoidance. In mesocosms and microcosms, we manipulated the risk and resource environments of grazing mayflies (Baetis bicaudatus) common in streams near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) in western Colorado, USA. We exposed mayflies to treatments with or without chemical cues from predatory brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) and high or low levels of benthic algal resources to test the nonconsumptive effects of predators and food availability on grazer foraging behavior, predator-avoidance behavior, growth rates, and the effect of grazers on accrual of algal food resources. Total drift (daytime + nighttime) of Baetis was significantly reduced under conditions of fish cues and high food levels. However, daytime drift, a risky food-search behavior, was negligible in all cases except the no-fish-cue/low-food treatment. Therefore, predator-induced nocturnal periodicity of drift behavior w...

  • Ecosystem engineering by beavers affects mayfly life histories
    Freshwater Biology, 2011
    Co-Authors: Matthew Fuller, Barbara L. Peckarsky
    Abstract:

    SUMMARY 1. The North American beaver has been studied as a model ecosystem engineer for many decades. Previous studies have documented physical, chemical and biological impacts attributed to beaver engineering in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. This study focused on the effects of ecosystem engineering by beavers on life histories of a common mayfly and on the potential consequences for mayfly populations. 2. We studied 18 montane beaver ponds of varying size and shape in western Colorado near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Our goal was to test whether variation in beaver pond morphology (pond size and shape) explains downstream changes in stream temperature, mayfly size and timing of emergence. 3. Downstream water temperatures varied predictably with pond morphology, being colder downstream of high-head dams and warmer downstream of low-head dams. Pond morphology was also a significant predictor of variation in the size of mature female Baetis bicaudatus (the most abundant mayfly), with larger females emerging downstream of highhead dams and smaller females downstream of low-head dams. The size of male B. bicaudatus was not significantly related to pond morphology or stream temperature. There was no relationship between pond morphology and variation in the timing of emergence of Baetis (males or females) between upstream and downstream reaches. 4. Our results have implications for the effects of beaver ponds on Baetis individual fitness because large Baetis females are more fecund. Therefore, predictable female size variation associated with beaver pond morphology makes it possible to model the effects of beaver activity on local contributions of Baetis to the regional pool of reproductive adults at the catchment scale. Additionally, predictable changes in the size of emerging mayflies may have important consequences for the magnitude of aquatic to terrestrial resource subsidies in beaver-modified systems.

  • Predator effects on prey population dynamics in open systems.
    Oecologia, 2008
    Co-Authors: Barbara L. Peckarsky, Billie L. Kerans, Brad W. Taylor, Angus R. Mcintosh
    Abstract:

    Animal population dynamics in open systems are affected not only by agents of mortality and the influence of species interactions on behavior and life histories, but also by dispersal and recruitment. We used an extensive data set to compare natural loss rates of two mayfly species that co-occur in high-elevation streams varying in predation risk, and experience different abiotic conditions during larval development. Our goals were to generate hypotheses relating predation to variation in prey population dynamics and to evaluate alternative mechanisms to explain such variation. While neither loss rates nor abundance of the species that develops during snowmelt (Baetis bicaudatus) varied systematically with fish, loss rates of the species that develops during baseflow (Baetis B) were higher in streams containing brook trout than streams without fish; and surprisingly, larvae of this species were most abundant in trout streams. This counter-intuitive pattern could not be explained by a trophic cascade, because densities of intermediate predators (stoneflies) did not differ between fish and fishless streams and predation by trout on stoneflies was negligible. A statistical model estimated that higher recruitment and accelerated development enables Baetis B to maintain larger populations in trout streams despite higher mortality from predation. Experimental estimates suggested that predation by trout potentially accounts for natural losses of Baetis B, but not Baetis bicaudatus. Predation by stoneflies on Baetis is negligible in fish streams, but could make an important contribution to observed losses of both species in fishless streams. Non-predatory sources of loss were higher for B. bicaudatus in trout streams, and for Baetis B in fishless streams. We conclude that predation alone cannot explain variation in population dynamics of either species; and the relative importance of predation is species- and environment-specific compared to non-predatory losses, such as other agents of mortality and non-consumptive effects of predators.

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