U.S.-Finland Cooperative Research on a Model Relating Predation Rate and Habitat Structural Complexity

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This award will enable Dr. Walter G. Nelson of the Florida Institute of Technology to collaborate with Dr. Erik Bonsdorff of the Abo Akademi, Finland in a study of the relationship between habitat complexity and prey vulnerability to predation. Specifically, they will carry out rigorous laboratory experiments with fish and amphipods to determine whether there is a threshold level of spatial complexity below which variations in complexity have no effect on prey survivorship. The researchers will perform their laboratory experiments at the Huso Biological Station where Dr. Bonsdorff has done extensive field data collection and experiments on shallow water interactions between fish predators and benthic prey. The basic biology of the local organisms is well known. The reed beds in the Aland Islands of Finland near this laboratory are a simple enough system, due to low species diversity, for trophic relationships to be modelled realistically in laboratory experiments. The laboratory studies will lead to hypotheses concerning prey distribution and abundance within the reed beds which can be tested by future field experiments. Dr. Nelson has experience in studies of predator-prey relationships and disturbance among the fauna of complex seagrass communities in the eastern U.S. He will benefit from access to a field system that is particularly well suited to modelling these types of ecological relationships. The collaboration will allow the researchers to combine their expertise and insights in an effort to advance understanding of predator-prey relationships. Recent work by Dr. Nelson and others has suggested that prey vulnerability does not have a simple linear relationship to substrate complexity, but rather, it is better described by a step function, at least at the low end of the complexity spectrum. However, this hypothesis has not yet been carefully tested experimentally. If the concept of a threshold of spatial complexity in predator-prey interactions can be confirmed (or refuted), this will provide a valuable insight into the effect of habitat on biotic interactions. If the hypothesis is substantiated, the knowledge will improve prediction of the potential impact of certain kinds of human disturbance on natural systems, and will improve efforts to restore damaged habitats or create artificial habitats.