Role of predator experience in influencing prey behaviour and survival - dataset

Dataset for the research paper:

Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Meekan MG, Ferrari MCO, Chivers DP (2012) Learn and live: the role of predator experience in influencing prey behaviour and survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 279:2091-2098.

Data consists of 3 worksheets: Key, Raw data and Graphs.

Abstract [Related Publication]: Determining how prey learn the identity of predators and match their vigilance with current levels of threat is central to understanding the dynamics of predator–prey systems and the determinants of fitness. Our study explores how feeding history influences the relative importance of olfactory and visual sensory modes of learning, and how the experience gained through these sensory modes influences behaviour and survival in the field for a juvenile coral reef damselfish. We collected young fish immediately prior to their settlement to benthic habitats. In the laboratory, these predator-naïve fish were exposed to a high- or low-food ration and then conditioned to recognize the olfactory cues (odours) and/or visual cues from two common benthic predators. Fish were then allowed to settle on reefs in the field, and their behaviour and survival over 70 h were recorded. Feeding history strongly influenced their willingness to take risks in the natural environment. Conditioning in the laboratory with visual, olfactory or both cues from predators led fish in the field to display risk-averse behaviour compared with fish conditioned with sea water alone. Well-fed fish that were conditioned with visual, chemical or a combination of predator cues survived eight times better over the first 48 h on reefs than those with no experience of benthic predator cues. This experiment highlights the importance of a flexible and rapid mechanism of learning the identity of predators for survival of young fish during the critical life-history transition between pelagic and benthic habitats.

The full methodology is available in the publication shown in the Related Publications link below.

    Data Record Details
    Data record related to this publication Role of predator experience in influencing prey behaviour and survival - dataset
    Data Publication title Role of predator experience in influencing prey behaviour and survival - dataset
  • Description

    Dataset for the research paper:

    Lönnstedt OM, McCormick MI, Meekan MG, Ferrari MCO, Chivers DP (2012) Learn and live: the role of predator experience in influencing prey behaviour and survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society London B 279:2091-2098.

    Data consists of 3 worksheets: Key, Raw data and Graphs.

    Abstract [Related Publication]: Determining how prey learn the identity of predators and match their vigilance with current levels of threat is central to understanding the dynamics of predator–prey systems and the determinants of fitness. Our study explores how feeding history influences the relative importance of olfactory and visual sensory modes of learning, and how the experience gained through these sensory modes influences behaviour and survival in the field for a juvenile coral reef damselfish. We collected young fish immediately prior to their settlement to benthic habitats. In the laboratory, these predator-naïve fish were exposed to a high- or low-food ration and then conditioned to recognize the olfactory cues (odours) and/or visual cues from two common benthic predators. Fish were then allowed to settle on reefs in the field, and their behaviour and survival over 70 h were recorded. Feeding history strongly influenced their willingness to take risks in the natural environment. Conditioning in the laboratory with visual, olfactory or both cues from predators led fish in the field to display risk-averse behaviour compared with fish conditioned with sea water alone. Well-fed fish that were conditioned with visual, chemical or a combination of predator cues survived eight times better over the first 48 h on reefs than those with no experience of benthic predator cues. This experiment highlights the importance of a flexible and rapid mechanism of learning the identity of predators for survival of young fish during the critical life-history transition between pelagic and benthic habitats.

    The full methodology is available in the publication shown in the Related Publications link below.

  • Other Descriptors
    • Descriptor
    • Descriptor type
  • Data type dataset
  • Keywords
    • learned predator recognition
    • chemical alarm odour
    • visual cues
    • prey feeding history
    • coral reef fish
    • fish ecology
    • 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 2011/12/31
  • Time Period
    Spatial (location) coverage
  • Locations
    • Lizard Island Research Station and backreef, Queensland, Australia
  • Related publications
      Name Lönnstedt, Oona M., McCormick, Mark I., Meekan, Mark G., Ferrari, Maud C.O., and Chivers, Douglas P. (2012) Learn and live: predator experience and feeding history determines prey behaviour and survival. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, Biological Sciences, 279 (1736). pp. 2091-2098
    • URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.2516
    • Notes
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    Citation Lonnstedt, Oona Margareta; McCormick, Mark (2018): Role of predator experience in influencing prey behaviour and survival - dataset. James Cook University. https://doi.org/10.4225/28/5a67dd4ea9254