In the absence of dragonfly risk cues, a positive feedback between salamander size structure and cannibalism through time occurred because most of the replicates in this treatment contained at least one salamander larvae having an enlarged gape (i.e. 3. We found that feedback dynamics between size structure and cannibalism depended on whether dragonfly predation risk was present. 2. This study examined how the presence and absence of predation risk from larval dragonflies Aeshna nigroflava affected cannibalism dynamics in its prey larval salamanders Hynobius retardatus. This is despite widespread evidence that many prey species exhibit behavioural and morphological adaptations in response to predation risk. Previous studies have emphasized the importance of size structure and density of cannibalistic species in shaping short- and long-term cannibalism dynamics, but our understanding of how predators influence cannibalism dynamics is limited. Kishida, Osamu Trussell, Geoffrey C Ohno, Ayaka Kuwano, Shinya Ikawa, Takuya Nishimura, Kinyaġ.  Cannibalism can play a prominent role in the structuring and dynamics of ecological communities. Predation risk suppresses the positive feedback between size structure and cannibalism.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |