Data for: McCormick MI, Fakan EP, Palacios, M. Habitat degradation and predators have independent trait-mediated effects on prey

Abstract [Related Publication]: Coral reefs are degrading globally leading to a catastrophic loss of biodiversity. While shifts in the species composition of communities have been well documented associated with habitat change, the mechanisms that underlie change are often poorly understood. This study experimentally examines the effects of coral degradation on trait-mediated effects of predators on the morphology, behaviour and performance of a juvenile coral reef fish. Juvenile damselfish were exposed to predators or controls (omnivore or nothing) in seawater that had passed over either live coral or dead-degraded coral. Despite previous research predicting that the chemistry from dead-degraded coral would alter non-consumptive predator effects, there were only minor effects on the traits of juvenile damselfish relative to the impact of the presence of predator cues over the 45d experimental period. No interaction between water source and predator exposure was found. Fish exposed to degraded water had larger false eyespots relative to the size of their true eyes, which may lead to a survival advantage. They were also more active, which may increase spatial awareness and the capacity to learn the risks associated with local community members. Non-consumptive effects of predators on prey that occurred regardless of water source included longer and deeper bodies, large false eyespots that may distract predator strikes away from the vulnerable head region, and shorter latencies in their response to a simulated predator strike. Trait-mediated effects originating from the chemistry of the water from degraded coral affect morphology and performance of fish and may enhance survival in a habitat that diminishes their capacity to assess risks. This mechanism may promote greater resilience to habitat change than may otherwise be predicted.

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 for: McCormick MI, Fakan EP, Palacios, M. Habitat degradation and predators have independent trait-mediated effects on prey
    Data Publication title Data for: McCormick MI, Fakan EP, Palacios, M. Habitat degradation and predators have independent trait-mediated effects on prey
  • Description

    Abstract [Related Publication]: Coral reefs are degrading globally leading to a catastrophic loss of biodiversity. While shifts in the species composition of communities have been well documented associated with habitat change, the mechanisms that underlie change are often poorly understood. This study experimentally examines the effects of coral degradation on trait-mediated effects of predators on the morphology, behaviour and performance of a juvenile coral reef fish. Juvenile damselfish were exposed to predators or controls (omnivore or nothing) in seawater that had passed over either live coral or dead-degraded coral. Despite previous research predicting that the chemistry from dead-degraded coral would alter non-consumptive predator effects, there were only minor effects on the traits of juvenile damselfish relative to the impact of the presence of predator cues over the 45d experimental period. No interaction between water source and predator exposure was found. Fish exposed to degraded water had larger false eyespots relative to the size of their true eyes, which may lead to a survival advantage. They were also more active, which may increase spatial awareness and the capacity to learn the risks associated with local community members. Non-consumptive effects of predators on prey that occurred regardless of water source included longer and deeper bodies, large false eyespots that may distract predator strikes away from the vulnerable head region, and shorter latencies in their response to a simulated predator strike. Trait-mediated effects originating from the chemistry of the water from degraded coral affect morphology and performance of fish and may enhance survival in a habitat that diminishes their capacity to assess risks. This mechanism may promote greater resilience to habitat change than may otherwise be predicted.

    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 saved in both MS Excel (.xlsx) and Open Document (.ods) formats. The dataset contains two sheets: Data and Key & Variable CODES)

    • Descriptor type Note
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • coral reef fish
    • trait-mediated predator effect
    • fear effect
    • predator-prey
    • behavioural ecology
    • ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
  • Funding source
  • Research grant(s)/Scheme name(s)
    • - DP170103372 ARC Discovery
  • 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 2017/10/01
  • End Date 2017/12/16
  • Time Period
    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    • Lizard Island, northern Great Barrier Reef, Australia
  • Related publications
      Name McCormick, Mark I., Fakan, Eric P., and Palacios, Maria M. (2019) Habitat degradation and predators have independent trait-mediated effects on prey. Scientific Reports, 9.
    • URL
    • Notes Open Access
  • Related websites
      Name
    • URL
    • Notes
  • Related metadata (including standards, codebooks, vocabularies, thesauri, ontologies)
  • Related data
      Name
    • URL
    • Notes
  • Related services
      Name
    • URL
    • Notes
    Citation McCormick, Mark; Palacios Otero, Maria (2019): Data for: McCormick MI, Fakan EP, Palacios, M. Habitat degradation and predators have independent trait-mediated effects on prey. James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.25903/5cb82367e7f39