Towards a predictive framework for predator risk effects: the interaction of landscape features and prey escape tactics
Open accessAbstract
Summary: Risk effects of predators can profoundly affect community dynamics, but the nature of these effects is context dependent. Although context dependence has hindered the development of a general framework for predicting the nature and extent of risk effects, recent studies suggest that such a framework is attainable if the factors that shape anti‐predator behaviour, and its effectiveness, in natural communities are well understood. One of these factors, the interaction of prey escape tactics and landscape features, has been largely overlooked. We tested whether this interaction gives rise to interspecific variation in habitat‐use patterns of sympatric large marine vertebrates at risk of tiger shark ( Galeocerdo cuvier Peron and LeSueur, 1822) predation. Specifically, we tested the a priori hypothesis that pied cormorants ( Phalacrocorax varius Gmelin, 1789) would modify their use of shallow seagrass habitats in a manner opposite to that of previously studied dolphins ( Tursiops aduncus Ehrenberg, 1833), dugongs ( Dugong dugon Müller, 1776), and green turtles ( Chelonia mydas Linnaeus, 1758) because, unlike these species, the effectiveness of cormorant escape behaviour does not vary spatially. As predicted, cormorants used interior and edge portions of banks proportional to the abundance of their potential prey when sharks were absent but shifted to interior portions of banks to minimize encounters with tiger sharks as predation risk increased. Other shark prey, however, shift to edge microhabitats when shark densities increase to take advantage of easier escape despite higher encounter rates with sharks. The interaction of landscape features and escape ability likely is important in diverse communities. When escape probabilities are high in habitats with high predator density, risk effects of predators can reverse the direction of commonly assumed indirect effects of top predators. The interaction between landscape features and prey escape tactics can result in a single predator species having differential effects on their sympatric prey that could cascade through ecosystems and should be incorporated into a general framework for context dependence of risk effects.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Vegetation structure, along with topography, is most relevant to predation through its influence on visibility, both in terms of predator concealment and prey detection of predators, as well as affecting the ability of prey to escape attack.
“Vegetation structure, along with topography, is most relevant to predation through its influence on visibility, both in terms of predator concealment and prey detection of predators, as well as affecting the ability of prey to escape attack (see [18]).”
From Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket (2016) · cites this paper as [18]
Cites
Scared to death? The effects of intimidation and consumption in predator-prey interactions
Preisser, E. L., Bolnick, D. I., & Benard, M. F. (2005) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/04-0719 · Cited by 1,840 · see citing works
Predicting ecological consequences of marine top predator declines
Heithaus, M. R., Frid, A., Wirsing, A. J., & Worm, B. (2008) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.01.003 · Cited by 1,350 · see citing works
Self-citationRelationships between direct predation and risk effects
Creel, S., & Christianson, D. (2008) · Trends in Ecology & Evolution · doi:10.1016/j.tree.2007.12.004 · Cited by 1,238 · see citing works
Hazardous duty pay and the foraging cost of predation
Brown, J. S., & Kotler, B. P. (2004) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00661.x · Cited by 1,130 · see citing works
Trophic cascades: the primacy of trait‐mediated indirect interactions
Schmitz, O. J., Krivan, V., & Ovadia, O. (2004) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2003.00560.x · Cited by 1,081 · see citing works
Predation risk affects reproductive physiology and demography of elk
Creel, S., Christianson, D., Liley, S., & Winnie, J. A. (2007) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1135918 · Cited by 666 · see citing works
Effects of Predator Hunting Mode on Grassland Ecosystem Function
Schmitz, O. J. (2008) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1152355 · Cited by 583 · see citing works
The African Wild Dog: Behavior, Ecology, and Conservation
Creel, S., & Creel, N. M. (2002) · doi:10.1515/9780691207001 · Cited by 547 · see citing works
PREDATOR DIVERSITY AND TROPHIC INTERACTIONS
Schmitz, O. J. (2007) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/06-0937.1 · Cited by 488 · see citing works
PREDATOR HUNTING MODE AND HABITAT DOMAIN ALTER NONCONSUMPTIVE EFFECTS IN PREDATOR–PREY INTERACTIONS
Preisser, E. L., Orrock, J. L., & Schmitz, O. J. (2007) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/07-0260.1 · Cited by 445 · see citing works
Landscape heterogeneity shapes predation in a newly restored predator–prey system
Kauffman, M. J., Varley, N., Smith, D. W., Stahler, D. R., MacNulty, D. R., & Boyce, M. S. (2007) · Ecology Letters · doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01059.x · Cited by 350 · see citing works
Hebblewhite, M., Merrill, E. H., & McDonald, T. L. (2005) · Oikos · doi:10.1111/j.0030-1299.2005.13858.x · Cited by 342 · see citing works
Heithaus, M. R., Frid, A., Wirsing, A. J., Dill, L. M., Fourqurean, J. W., Burkholder, D. A., Thomson, J. A., & Bejder, L. (2007) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2007.01260.x · Cited by 338 · see citing works
Self-citationHabitat use and foraging behavior of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier) in a seagrass ecosystem
Heithaus, M., Dill, L., Marshall, G., & Buhleier, B. (2002) · Marine Biology · doi:10.1007/s00227-001-0711-7 · Cited by 322 · see citing works
Self-citationColoniality in the cliff swallow: the effect of group size on social behavior
(1996) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.34-1543 · Cited by 301 · see citing works
Fish and game: a game theoretic approach to habitat selection by predators and prey*
Hugie, D. M., & Dill, L. M. (1994) · Journal of Fish Biology · doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.1994.tb01090.x · Cited by 259 · see citing works
Self-citationHeithaus, M. R. (2001) · Environmental Biology of Fishes · doi:10.1023/a:1011021210685 · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Self-citationKalahari Hyaenas: Comparative Behavioural Ecology of Two Species
Mills, M. G. L. (1990) · Cited by 215 · see citing works
Mills, M. G. L. (1990) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-015-1101-8 · Cited by 205 · see citing works
Heithaus, M. R., & Dill, L. M. (2006) · Oikos · doi:10.1111/j.2006.0030-1299.14443.x · Cited by 199 · see citing works
Self-citationLima, S. L. (1993) · Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) · doi:10.5281/zenodo.16571209 · Cited by 164 · see citing works
Wirsing, A. J., Heithaus, M. R., & Dill, L. M. (2007) · Animal Behaviour · doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2006.11.016 · Cited by 155 · see citing works
Self-citationFear factor: do dugongs (Dugong dugon) trade food for safety from tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier)?
Wirsing, A. J., Heithaus, M. R., & Dill, L. M. (2007) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-007-0802-3 · Cited by 154 · see citing works
Self-citationHeithaus, M. R. (2001) · Marine Mammal Science · doi:10.1111/j.1748-7692.2001.tb01002.x · Cited by 150 · see citing works
Self-citationHabitat selection by predators and prey in communities with asymmetrical intraguild predation
Heithaus, M. R. (2001) · Oikos · doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2001.920315.x · Cited by 125 · see citing works
Self-citationShark-inflicted injury frequencies, escape ability, and habitat use of green and loggerhead turtles
Heithaus, M. R., Frid, A., & Dill, L. M. (2002) · Marine Biology · doi:10.1007/s00227-001-0712-6 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Self-citationFish and game: a game theoretic approach to habitat selection by predators and prey
Hugie, D. M. (1994) · Journal of Fish Biology · doi:10.1006/jfbi.1994.1220 · Cited by 98 · see citing works
Lima, S. L. (1992) · Oikos · doi:10.2307/3545181 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Heithaus, M. R., Hamilton, I. M., Wirsing, A. J., & Dill, L. M. (2006) · Journal of Animal Ecology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01087.x · Cited by 85 · see citing works
Self-citationWirsing, A. J., Heithaus, M. R., & Dill, L. M. (2006) · Marine Biology · doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0278-4 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citationSchmitz, O. J. (2005) · Oecologia · doi:10.1007/s00442-005-0063-y · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Heithaus, M. R. (2005) · Marine Biology · doi:10.1007/s00227-004-1534-0 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
Self-citation
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Creel, S., Schuette, P., & Christianson, D. (2014) · Behavioral Ecology · doi:10.1093/beheco/aru050 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Kauffman, M. J., Brodie, J. F., & Jules, E. S. (2010) · Ecology · doi:10.1890/09-1949.1 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Lone, K., Loe, L. E., Gobakken, T., Linnell, J. D. C., Odden, J., Remmen, J., & Mysterud, A. (2014) · Oikos · doi:10.1111/j.1600-0706.2013.00938.x · Cited by 227 · see citing works
Concepts, goals and the control of survival-related behaviors
Feldman Barrett, L., & Finlay, B. L. (2018) · Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2018.10.001 · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Effects of Vegetation Structure on the Location of Lion Kill Sites in African Thicket
Davies, A. B., Tambling, C. J., Kerley, G. I. H., & Asner, G. P. (2016) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0149098 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
- Authors
- Heithaus, M. R., Wirsing, A. J., Burkholder, D., Thomson, J., & Dill, L. M.
- Affiliations
- Florida International University (US)
- Simon Fraser University (CA)
- Venue
- Journal of Animal Ecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2009-03-31
- Volume
- 78
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 556-562
- ISSN
- 0021-8790 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2656
- OpenAlex
- W2063871508
- Semantic Scholar
- 95ff2ca1c37d0d906825a3d14f914e001ce370b4
- Cited by
- 239
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 17 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 24 · 2013: 17 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 8.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- figshare.com
- Locations
- Journal of Animal Ecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Deakin Research Online (Deakin University) (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (0745606, 0526065)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (A6869)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ichthyology and Marine Biology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Marine animal studies overview
- Keywords
- antipredator behavior, landscape elements, habitat use, tiger shark, Phalacrocorax varius, context sensitivity, top-down effects, indirect effects, encounter rate
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Birds, Dolphins, Escape Reaction, Predatory Behavior, Risk Factors, Sharks, Ecosystem, Dugong
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
