BIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS

Part 1 Predator and prey

Contents 3 Preface

4 Predator-prey-dynamics 5 Explore yourself!

6 Lepus americanus and Lynx canadensis 7 Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) chasing hare

8 Reproductive rates & prey eaten per predator 9 Biomathematics: Lotka-Volterra equation

10 Game theory: hawk-dove game of fighting 11 Strategic alternatives in social behaviour

12 Speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) playing the Bourgeois Strategy by defending sun flecks

13 Mantis shrimp as poker players using bluffing strategies 14 Optimal foraging theory – Eurasian oystercatcher

15 The extinction of the Neanderthal specialist 16 Example of a specialist – the ‘i’iwi (Vestiaria coccinea)

17 Profability of a prey is more than its energy gain 18 Cooperative hunting as an ‘evolutionary stable strategy’ 19 Cooperative hunting enables the evolution of sociality

20 An optimal strategy in areas where prey is scarce 21 Teamwork and sonar trap a school of fish in a whirlpool

22 Coral groupers invite moray eels to join hunting 23 Honeyguides calling for ratels to rob a beehive

24 The greater honeyguide has a unique mutual relationship with the Hadza hunters 25 A fluid social organisation maintained for many years

26 – 28 Credits

Preface

The parts of ‘Biotic Relationships’ of which ‘Predator and prey’ is the first, provide applications, elaborations and

illustrations with a minimal explanation

Be guided by the frame the several links draw – be inspired by the main chapter ‘Biotische Relaties’ or

enjoy the visual material

The credits are available after the last slide

If endangered the conservation status according to IUCN of the reviewed animals is mentioned

Links to videos or animations

Predator-prey-dynamics

An ecological or an economical issue?

‘Human hunters help no species’ Edward O. Wilson

Explore yourself!

Lepus americanus and Lynx canadensis

Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) chasing hare

Reproductive rates & prey eaten per predator

Biomathematics: Lotka-Volterra equation

Wikipedia Notes Excel/Exercises

Game theory: hawk-dove game of fighting

An ESS or evolutionary stable strategy as an equilibrium will exist when both fitnesses are equal

When V or gain = 2 and C or cost = 10, hawks are 20% (=p) of the population and doves are 80% of the population (p = V/C)

Strategic alternatives in social behaviour

Selfishness is the base criteria of all strategic choice from a game theory perspective

Speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) playing the Bourgeois Strategy by defending sun flecks

Mantis shrimp shift to a mutant strategy by bluffing to guard their home if the cavity defender is molting

Neogonodactylus bredini

Mantis shrimp as poker players using bluffing strategies ‘do not mess with me’

Fleeing – the challenger takes Hiding – the challenger, wary over the cavity of an ambush, might give up

The challenger enters the cavity, Bluffing – the challenger is the helpless defender will lose intimidated and gives up

E/h = profability of a prey

E = amount of energy that a prey item provides

h = handling time

Oystercatchers (Haematopus

ostralegus) prefer

medium sized mussels

A large mussel provides more energy, but is harder to crack open

This choice of mussel size does not only depend on

the profability of the prey, but also on the

prey density

Optimal foraging theory – Eurasian oystercatcher

If E1/h1>E2/h2 an animal only eats prey 2 if E2/h2>E1/(h1+S1) * S1 is the search time for prey 1

Rearrangement of *: S1>[(E1h2)/E2] – h1, giving the threshold for how long S1 must be for an animal to choose for both preys

Animals that have S1’s that reach the thresholds are generalists, predators with short S1’s are specialists

The carnivorous Neanderthal diet was less flexible, which has driven them to extinction by the omnivorous Cro-Magnon people 30 000 AD

The extinction of the Neanderthal specialist

On any given relationship, specialists perfectly fulfill a narrow niche

When environmental conditions change, specialists tend to fall victim

As the lobeloid population fell, the ‘i’iwi shifted to nectar of ‘ōhi’a lehua

At least 16 species Drepanididae are extinct since 1600

Example of a specialist – the ‘i’iwi (Vestiaria coccinea)

‘Ōhi’a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha)

‘I’iwi – VU IUCN 2008

Some preys give warning signals associated with unpalatability

Beneficial also for the predator, these are indications of noxious prey

Unpalatability or poisonousness result in longer handling times

Profability of a prey is more than its energy gain

Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis))

An ‘evolutionary stable strategy’ (ESS) cannot be invaded by any alternative strategy that is initially rare

Natural selection is sufficient to prevent alternative strategies from invading and breaking an ESS

Cooperative hunting will evolve when 2 or more individuals capture more prey and suffer fewer costs together than alone

Cooperative hunting as an ‘evolutionary stable strategy’

African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), EN – IUCN 2000 Wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou)

Cheating of females has become an ESS by the risk of dropping infants

Drivers, blockers, chasers and ambushers distribute the meal in the group

Cooperative hunting enables the evolution of sociality

Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Procolobus sp., both EN IUCN 2008

Through vocalisations a pack of Harris’s hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus) starts the hunt for preys possibly bigger than themselves

Crowding around the kill they are called the lions of the desert

An optimal strategy in areas where prey is scarce

Individual role specialization has been observed in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.)

Drivers kick up a wall of mud or send shock waves

through the water with their tails

The fish have nowhere to go except up

Panic-stricken they jump in the mouths of the barriers

lining up side by side

Corralling is a different strategy where fish are pushed their bodies up

onto mud-flat where they are easily captured

Teamwork and sonar trap a school of fish in a whirlpool

The groupers (Plectropomus pessuliferus) signal to moray eels (Gymnothorax javanicus) in order to initiate joint searching

Signalling is dependent on grouper hunger level

They recruit the eels to hiding places out of reach – it’s a fishy deal

Coral groupers invite moray eels to join hunting

Honeyguides calling for ratels to rob a beehive

Unable to get to the honeycomb, the bird attracts the ratel’s attention with chattering – a compelling evidence for interspecific hunting

Greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator)

Ratel (Mellivora capensis)

If not thanked by a gift, the bird may lead its follower to a lion or venomous snake as punishment

The greater honeyguide has a unique mutual relationship with the Hadza hunters in Tanzania

Vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) can’t survive 60 hours without blood, urging roostmates to regurgitate blood by grooming, which

consists of licking the potential donor under her wing A donor bat gives up food, which might otherwise be used to ensure

its own survival or the survival of its offspring to a recipient bat, whose chances of survival increase at no apparent cost to itself

Food sharing appears to be true altruistic and increases the chances of survival of both the individual and the population

A fluid social organisation maintained for many years

Bonus – chimpanzee throwing its prey out of a tree

Credits 3 http://www.slideshare.net/Ecologie12/deel-8-biotische-interacties

4 http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/trends-in-spawning-cod-biomass-and-in-fishing-mortality

5 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel_pre_2011/environment/populationsandpyramidsrev5.shtml

6 http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/tlw3/eBridge/Chp30/animations/ch30/predator_prey_interaction.swf

7 http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/A7/A730E596-5644-4546-BFEC-DD6E659F8404/Presentation.Large/Canada-lynx-with-snowshoe-hare-prey.jpg

8 http://nortonbooks.com/college/biology/animations/ch34a03.htm

9 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotka-Volterravergelijking http://www.math.psu.edu/tseng/class/Math251/Notes-Predator-Prey.pdf http://mathinsight.org/applet/lotka_volterra_versus_time_population_display http://www.hhofstede.nl/modules/prooiroofdier.htm

10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmwERBoeLZU

10, 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionarily_stable_strategy

12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwtm_B3YB38 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/mantisshrimp_08

13 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/mantisshrimp_08

14 http://www.arkive.org/oystercatcher/haematopus-ostralegus/video-01.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_foraging_theory

Credits 15 http://thescientistgardener.blogspot.be/2009/11/omnivores-advantage.html

http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthaler http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/rabbits-neanderthal-extinction-early-humans-prey_n_2807210.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_foraging_theory http://io9.com/5854582/neanderthals-were-enjoying-the-finer-things-in-life-250000-years-ago

16 http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/iiwi/ http://www.futureblind.com/2011/07/generalists-vs-specialists-and-the-specialists-dilemma/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_honeycreeper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrosideros_polymorpha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBI%CA%BBiwi http://franslanting.photoshelter.com/image/I0000Qu1AkTRr2h8 http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/hawaiian-honeycreepers-drepanididae

17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_foraging_theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZwlKANA43w&index=5&list=PLbPhJdEXzeOjsLHhLrWVXD8c1d37t0cX1 http://jaymanntoday.ning.com/profiles/blogs/may-21-2013-weekly-blog-about

18 http://www.arkive.org/african-wild-dog/lycaon-pictus/video-08e.html http://www.arkive.org/african-wild-dog/lycaon-pictus/image-G4168.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting

19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=309_ceqWkmg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_chimpanzee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting http://www.animal-dino.com/wild_kingdom.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_colobus

Credits 20 http://www.raptorrehab.org/harris-hawk.html

http://manu1.deviantart.com/art/harris-hawk-chase-78152391 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting#Aplomado_falcons http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mrze8

21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxuyLLhumpo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoaling_and_schooling

22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn5Vhr9Tz7I http://www.animal-dino.com/wild_kingdom.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17147471

23 http://www.agefotostock.com/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/DAE-15006333 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D544WoTj5qI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_honeyguide http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honingdas http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mellivora_capensis/

24 http://www.ssplprints.com/image/97358/hawkins-b-waterhouse-benjamin-waterhouse-honey-guide-and-ratels-c-1845 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ETvF9z8pc0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_honeyguide

25 http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/Wilkinson90SciAm.pdf http://www.arkive.org/chimpanzee/pan-troglodytes/video-sc08d.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZTAW0vPE1o

Background: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/287667494920836911/