Neophobia and the assessment of predation risk in aquatic systems.

由于捕食的非消耗性影响，猎物往往被迫权衡关键活动，如觅食，求偶，领土防御，有利于增加风险评估和捕食者回避。平衡这些权衡的关键是对当地捕食威胁的可靠评估。然而，在生态不确定的条件下（被定义为关于当地捕食威胁的信息不完善造成的模糊性），很难进行这种风险评估。不确定性可能是由于捕食风险的空间和时间变化或捕食者公会的密度和/或多样性的局部变化而产生的。随着不确定性的增加，对当地威胁做出不适当反应的可能性可能会增加;放大了捕食的非消耗性影响的成本。为了应对风险的不确定性，猎物可能依赖于获得的信息（学习），以实现足够的行为可塑性，以应对可变的威胁。然而，学习是有代价的，因为猎物必须在与捕食者的初次遭遇中生存下来，才能获得生态相关的信息。我们的模型neophobic捕食者识别，认为新的线索的反应是一个表型塑性反应不确定的捕食风险。对未知捕食者线索的反应可以为天真的猎物提供一种适应机制，以避免与有据可查的学习捕食者识别相关的“第一次遭遇”成本，同时仍然确保足够的行为灵活性来应对不确定的威胁。我们的建议的第一个目标是测试的生态限制和生存价值塑造neophobic捕食者的识别。这些数据将使我们能够根据对长期威胁和短期行为决定的综合适应，建立一个普遍的新恐惧症模型。拟议的实验（和其他可能产生的收集的数据）的目的是探索的作用，个人感知的风险，捕食风险和捕食者的多样性发挥在收购和保留的neophobic反应新的捕食者线索。我们的第二个目标是应用我们的新恐惧症和生态相关的学习模式，以提高放养后的孵化饲养鱼类的生存。每年，数以百万计的孵化场饲养的幼鲑被放养到自然水道中，作为重建或维持自然种群的持续努力的一部分。然而，缺乏经验和孵化场选择的综合影响，导致穷人放养后的生存。一个普遍提倡的方法，以提高放养后的生存是生活技能的培训，包括条件孵化饲养的猎物，以认识共同的捕食者之前，放养。只有少数研究直接测试了生活技能培训在“现实世界”中的好处，结果好坏参半。主要使用基于现场的协议，我们将评估生活技能培训的可行性，以提高预放养调节计划的成功。影响在于应用行为生态学来提高孵化场饲养的鱼类放养后的存活率。增加孵化场饲养的鱼类（特别是鲑鱼）的放养后生存将对正在进行的和未来的保护和恢复计划有直接的好处。除了加强商业和休闲渔业的工作外，我们的研究结果也将有利于保护当地濒危鱼类种群的工作。

As a result of the nonconsumptive effects of predation, prey are often forced to trade-off critical activities such as foraging, courtship, territorial defence, in favour of increased risk assessment and predator avoidance. Key to the ability to balance these trade-offs is the reliable assessment of local predation threats. However, the ability to make such risk assessments is difficult under conditions of ecological uncertainty (defined as ambiguity resulting from imperfect information regarding local predation threats). Uncertainty may arise as a result of spatial and temporal variability in predation risk or with local variability in density and/or diversity of the predator guild. As uncertainty increases, the chance of inappropriate responses to local threats likely increases; magnifying the costs of nonconsumptive effects of predation. In response to uncertainty in risk, prey may rely on acquired information (learning) in order to achieve sufficient behavioural plasticity to respond to variable threats. However, learning comes at a cost as prey must survive the initial encounter with a predator in order to acquire ecologically relevant information. Our model of neophobic predator recognition, argues that the response to novel cues is a phenotypically plastic response to uncertain predation risk. The response to unknown predator cues may provide naïve prey with an adaptive mechanism to avoid the ‘first encounter’ cost associated with the well-documented learned predator recognition while still ensuring sufficient behavioural flexibility to respond to uncertain threats. The first objective of our proposal is to test the ecological constraints and survival value shaping neophobic predator recognition. These data will allow us to develop a generalized model of neophobia based on the combined adaptations to chronic threats and short-term behavioural decisions. The proposed experiments (and others that may arise from the data collected) are aimed at exploring the role of individual perception of risk, predation risk and predator diversity play in the acquisition and retention of neophobic responses to novel predator cues. Our second goal is to apply our models of neophobia and ecologically-relevant learning to enhance post-stocking survial of hatchery-reared fishes. Each year, millions of hatchery-reared juvenile salmonids are stocked into natural waterways as part of ongoing efforts to re-establish or maintain natural populations. However, the combined effects of lack of experience and hatchery selection leads to poor post-stocking survival. One commonly advocated method to enhance post-stocking survival is life-skills training, including conditioning hatchery-reared prey to recognize common predators prior to stocking. Only a handful of studies have directly tested the ‘real-world’ benefits of life-skills training, with mixed to negative results. Using primarily field-based protocols, we will assess the feasibility of life-skills training to improve the success of pre-stocking conditioning programs. The impact lay in the application of behavioural ecology to the enhancement of post-stocking survival of hatchery-reared fishes. Increased post-stocking survival of hatchery-reared fishes (especially salmonids) will have direct benefits for ongoing and future conservation and recovery programs. In addition to the efforts to enhance commercial and recreational fisheries, our results will also benefit conservation efforts for locally endangered fish populations.