Both local presence and regional distribution of predator cues modulate prey colonisation in pond landscapes. (28th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Trekels, Hendrik; Vanschoenwinkel, Bram
• Editors: Coulson, Tim
• Is Part Of: Ecology letters. Volume 22:Number 1(2019)
• Page Start: 89
• Page End: 97
• Publication Date: 2018-10-28
• Subjects: Culex pipiens -- habitat compression -- habitat compromise -- habitat selection -- mosquito egg rafts -- oviposition site selection -- predation risk -- reward contagion -- risk contagion -- scale dependence; Ecology -- Periodicals; 577
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.13170
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-023X

Abstract

Abstract: Recent work on habitat selection has shown that the perceived quality of habitat patches may depend on the quality of adjacent patches. However, it is still unclear how local habitat selection cues can alter distribution patterns in metacommunities at a larger (regional) scale. We studied mosquito oviposition in pond landscapes that differed in the proportion of bad patches with fish predation risk. Our experiment provided conclusive evidence for two local and two regional types of habitat selection. Good patches near bad patches were avoided (local risk contagion) while more distant good patches experienced increased oviposition (regional compression). Oviposition in bad patches increased when located next to good patches (reward contagion) or when there were no good patches regionally present (regional compromise). This complex colonisation behaviour involving compromises at different spatial scales forces experimenters to reconsider the independence of spatial replicates and challenges available theories to predict species distribution patterns.