Disrupted learning: habitat degradation impairs crucial antipredator responses in naïve prey

This dataset contains data from two field experiments that examine the influence of the degradation of coral reefs on the ability of juvenile reef fishes to learn about the identity of predators

    Data Record Details
    Data record related to this publication Disrupted learning: habitat degradation impairs crucial antipredator responses in naïve prey
    Data Publication title Disrupted learning: habitat degradation impairs crucial antipredator responses in naïve prey
  • Description

    This dataset contains data from two field experiments that examine the influence of the degradation of coral reefs on the ability of juvenile reef fishes to learn about the identity of predators

  • Other Descriptors
    • Descriptor

      Habitat degradation is a global problem and one of the main causes of biodiversity loss. Though widespread, the mechanisms that underlie faunal changes are poorly understood. In tropical marine systems corals play a crucial role in forming habitat, but coral cover on many reefs is declining sharply. Coral degradation affects the olfactory cues that provide reliable information on the presence and intensity of threat. Here we show for the first time that the ability of a habitat generalist to learn predators using an efficient and widespread method of predator learning is compromised in degraded coral habitats. Results indicate that chemical alarm cues are no longer indicative of a local threat for the habitat generalist (the damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis), and these cues can no longer be used to learn the identity of novel predators in degraded habitats. In contrast, a rubble specialist and congeneric (P. coelestis) responded to olfactory threat cues regardless of background environment. Understanding how some species can cope with or acclimate to the detrimental impacts of habitat degradation on risk assessment abilities will be crucial to defining the scope of resilience in threatened communities.

    • Descriptor type Full
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • coral reef fishes
    • habitat degradation
    • damselfish
    • predator-prey dynamics
    • learning
    • alarm cue
    • ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies
  • Funding source
  • Research grant(s)/Scheme name(s)
    • 21109 - (James Cook University Research Activities) ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrated Coral Reef Studies
  • Research themes
    Tropical Ecosystems, Conservation and Climate Change
    Tropical Health, Medicine and Biosecurity
    FoR Codes (*)
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    Temporal (time) coverage
  • Start Date 2014/11/16
  • End Date 2014/12/10
  • Time Period
    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    • 14deg41'S, 145deg27'E
  • Related publications
      Name McCormick, Mark I., and Lönnstedt, Oona M. (2016) Disrupted learning: habitat degradation impairs crucial antipredator responses in naive prey. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 283. pp. 1-8.
    • URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0441
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    Citation McCormick, Mark (2015): Disrupted learning: habitat degradation impairs crucial antipredator responses in naïve prey. James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.4225/28/55A45055A0C12