Phenotypically plastic neophobia: a response to variable predation risk
Phenotypically plastic neophobia: a response to variable predation risk
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DOI：
10.1098/rspb.2012.2712
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发表时间：
2013-04-07
影响因子：
4.7
通讯作者：
Chivers, Douglas P.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brown, Grant E.;Ferrari, Maud C. O.;Chivers, Douglas P.
猎物物种拥有多种形态、生活史和行为适应来躲避捕食者。虽然特定的进化条件导致了永久性的、非可塑性的反捕食者特征的表达，但绝大多数猎物物种依靠经验来表达适应性的反捕食者防御。虽然生态学家已经确定了幼稚猎物可以应对捕食威胁的高度复杂的方法，但第一次遇到捕食者时死亡的可能性仍然是一个非常重要的未解决问题。在这里，我们利用实验室和实地研究为两个类群（鱼类和两栖动物）中风险诱发的恐新症提供了第一个证据，并认为表型可塑性恐新症可以作为脆弱猎物的一种适应性反捕食者策略，应对捕食风险的时空变化。我们的研究还说明了实验室研究中使用的无风险维护条件如何可能使研究人员对仅在高风险条件下表达的适应性反捕食者策略视而不见。
Prey species possess a variety of morphological, life history and behavioural adaptations to evade predators. While specific evolutionary conditions have led to the expression of permanent, non-plastic anti-predator traits, the vast majority of prey species rely on experience to express adaptive anti-predator defences. While ecologists have identified highly sophisticated means through which naive prey can deal with predation threats, the potential for death upon the first encounter with a predator is still a remarkably important unresolved issue. Here, we used both laboratory and field studies to provide the first evidence for risk-induced neophobia in two taxa (fish and amphibians), and argue that phenotypically plastic neophobia acts as an adaptive anti-predator strategy for vulnerable prey dealing with spatial and temporal variation in predation risk. Our study also illustrates how risk-free maintenance conditions used in laboratory studies may blind researchers to adaptive anti-predator strategies that are only expressed in high-risk conditions.