Abstract
Prey are often consumed by multiple predator species. Predation rates on shared prey species measured in isolation often do not combine additively due to interference or facilitation among the predator species. Furthermore, the strength of predator interactions and resulting prey mortality may change with habitat type. We experimentally examined predation on amphipods in rock and algal habitats by two species of intertidal crabs, Hemigrapsus sanguineus (top predators) and Carcinus maenas (intermediate predators). Algae provided a safer habitat for amphipods when they were exposed to only a single predator species. When both predator species were present, mortality of amphipods was less than additive in both habitats. However, amphipod mortality was reduced more in rock than algal habitat because intermediate predators were less protected in rock habitat and were increasingly targeted by omnivorous top predators. We found that prey mortality in general was reduced by (1) altered foraging behavior of intermediate predators in the presence of top predators, (2) top predators switching to foraging on intermediate predators rather than shared prey, and (3) density reduction of intermediate predators. The relative importance of these three mechanisms was the same in both habitats; however, the magnitude of each was greater in rock habitat. Our study demonstrates that the strength of specific mechanisms of interference between top and intermediate predators can be quantified but cautions that these results may be habitat specific.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to I. Altman, A. Blakeslee, J. Dijkstra, A. Freeman, J.H. Grabowski, S. Kohler, J. Leff, J. Meyer, O.J. Schmitz, S. Teck, and two anonymous reviewers for critiques of the manuscript. This research was partially funded by the University of New Hampshire Center for Marine Biology. The experiments described here comply with the current USA laws.
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Communicated by Steve Kohler
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0272-4
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Griffen, B.D., Byers, J.E. Partitioning mechanisms of Predator Interference in different Habitats. Oecologia 146, 608–614 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0211-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-005-0211-4