Data from: Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Ferrari MCO, Munday PL, Chivers DP (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution 3:3565–3575

Data from: Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Ferrari MCO, Munday PL, Chivers DP (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution 3:3565–3575.

Data for three experiments in one Excel dataset (7 worksheets)

Abstract [Related publication]: Carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the atmosphere and surface ocean are rising at an unprecedented rate due to sustained and accelerating anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. Previous studies have documented that exposure to elevated CO2 causes impaired antipredator behavior by coral reef fish in response to chemical cues associated with predation. However, whether ocean acidification will impair visual recognition of common predators is currently unknown. This study examined whether sensory compensation in the presence of multiple sensory cues could reduce the impacts of ocean acidification on antipredator responses. When exposed to seawater enriched with levels of CO₂ predicted for the end of this century (880 latm CO₂), prey fish completely lost their response to conspecific alarm cues. While the visual response to a predator was also affected by high CO₂, it was not entirely lost. Fish exposed to elevated CO₂, spent less time in shelter than current-day controls and did not exhibit antipredator signaling behavior (bobbing) when multiple predator cues were present. They did, however, reduce feeding rate and activity levels to the same level as controls. The results suggest that the response of fish to visual cues may partially compensate for the lack of response to chemical cues. Fish subjected to elevated CO₂ levels, and exposed to chemical and visual predation cues simultaneously, responded with the same intensity as controls exposed to visual cues alone. However, these responses were still less than control fish simultaneously exposed to chemical and visual predation cues. Consequently, visual cues improve antipredator behavior of CO₂ exposed fish, but do not fully compensate for the loss of response to chemical cues. The reduced ability to correctly respond to a predator will have ramifications for survival in encounters with predators in the field, which could have repercussions for population replenishment in acidified oceans.

The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

    Data Record Details
    Data record related to this publication Data from: Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Ferrari MCO, Munday PL, Chivers DP (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution 3:3565–3575
    Data Publication title Data from: Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Ferrari MCO, Munday PL, Chivers DP (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution 3:3565–3575
  • Description

    Data from: Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Ferrari MCO, Munday PL, Chivers DP (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution 3:3565–3575.

    Data for three experiments in one Excel dataset (7 worksheets)

    Abstract [Related publication]: Carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the atmosphere and surface ocean are rising at an unprecedented rate due to sustained and accelerating anthropogenic CO₂ emissions. Previous studies have documented that exposure to elevated CO2 causes impaired antipredator behavior by coral reef fish in response to chemical cues associated with predation. However, whether ocean acidification will impair visual recognition of common predators is currently unknown. This study examined whether sensory compensation in the presence of multiple sensory cues could reduce the impacts of ocean acidification on antipredator responses. When exposed to seawater enriched with levels of CO₂ predicted for the end of this century (880 latm CO₂), prey fish completely lost their response to conspecific alarm cues. While the visual response to a predator was also affected by high CO₂, it was not entirely lost. Fish exposed to elevated CO₂, spent less time in shelter than current-day controls and did not exhibit antipredator signaling behavior (bobbing) when multiple predator cues were present. They did, however, reduce feeding rate and activity levels to the same level as controls. The results suggest that the response of fish to visual cues may partially compensate for the lack of response to chemical cues. Fish subjected to elevated CO₂ levels, and exposed to chemical and visual predation cues simultaneously, responded with the same intensity as controls exposed to visual cues alone. However, these responses were still less than control fish simultaneously exposed to chemical and visual predation cues. Consequently, visual cues improve antipredator behavior of CO₂ exposed fish, but do not fully compensate for the loss of response to chemical cues. The reduced ability to correctly respond to a predator will have ramifications for survival in encounters with predators in the field, which could have repercussions for population replenishment in acidified oceans.

    The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

  • Other Descriptors
    • Descriptor

      This dataset is available as a spreadsheet in MS Excel (.xlsx) and Open Document formats (.ods)

    • Descriptor type Note
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • ocean acidification
    • coral reef fish
    • behaviour
    • ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
  • Funding source
  • Research grant(s)/Scheme name(s)
    • -
  • Research themes
    Tropical Ecosystems, Conservation and Climate Change
    FoR Codes (*)
    SEO Codes
    Specify spatial or temporal setting of the data
    Temporal (time) coverage
  • Start Date 2010/10/01
  • End Date 2010/11/30
  • Time Period
    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    • Lizard Island Research Station (14°40′S, 145°28′E), northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia
  • Related publications
      Name Lönnstedt, Oona M., Munday, Philip L., McCormick, Mark I., Ferrari, Maud C.O., and Chivers, Douglas P. (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution, 3 (10). pp. 3565-3575.
    • URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.684
    • Notes Open Access
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    Citation Lonnstedt, Oona; McCormick, Mark (2018): Data from: Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Ferrari MCO, Munday PL, Chivers DP (2013) Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO₂ on fish? Ecology and Evolution 3:3565–3575 . James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.4225/28/5a73b1904969d