The enemy of my enemy is my friend: fear responses in mussels exposed to apex and meso-predators

Top-down control in ecosystems helps maintain ecosystem stability and resilience; however, anthropogenic stressors, such as commercial fishing, have led to the global decline of apex predators. There is a growing recognition that the indirect effects of predators on prey (eg. fear-mediated behavioural responses) could be just as important as direct consumption. For instance, apex predators play an important role in regulating meso-predators by evoking fear and stress responses (eg. retreating and hiding) that limit meso-predator activity. Likewise, meso-predators drive similar fear responses in their own prey items, but few students have explored how meso-predator prey responses are modified by the presence of an apex partner. Apex predators suppress meso-predator feeding an in turn, could indirectly reduce the stress response of meso-predator prey. We propose to measure the effects of an important marine meso-predator (crabs) on the feeding responses of mussels when in the presence of an apex predator (sharks).

Faculty Supervisor:

Paul Mensink

Student:

Partner:

Queen’s University Belfast

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Western University

Program: