Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon?
The impact of parasites on hosts is invariably negative when considered in isolation, but may be complex and unexpected in nature. For example, if parasites make hosts less desirable to predators then gains from reduced predation may offset direct costs of being parasitized. We explore these ideas i...
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Online Access: | https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/6582a352-5705-49e9-9d8e-3251302fb3a9 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 |
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ftunivalberta:oai:era.library.ualberta.ca:6582a352-5705-49e9-9d8e-3251302fb3a9 2024-06-23T07:56:13+00:00 Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? Peacock, Stephanie J. Connors, Brendan M. Krkošek, Martin Irvine, James R. Lewis, Mark A. 2014-01-01 https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/6582a352-5705-49e9-9d8e-3251302fb3a9 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 English eng https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/6582a352-5705-49e9-9d8e-3251302fb3a9 doi:10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 © 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. Salmon Parasite Model Functional Response Predation Sea Lice Article (Published) 2014 ftunivalberta https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 2024-06-03T03:09:00Z The impact of parasites on hosts is invariably negative when considered in isolation, but may be complex and unexpected in nature. For example, if parasites make hosts less desirable to predators then gains from reduced predation may offset direct costs of being parasitized. We explore these ideas in the context of sea louse infestations on salmon. In Pacific Canada, sea lice can spread from farmed salmon to migrating juvenile wild salmon. Low numbers of sea lice can cause mortality of juvenile pink and chum salmon. For pink salmon, this has resulted in reduced productivity of river populations exposed to salmon farming. However, for chum salmon, we did not find an effect of sea louse infestations on productivity, despite high statistical power. Motivated by this unexpected result, we used a mathematical model to show how a parasite-induced shift in predation pressure from chum salmon to pink salmon could offset negative direct impacts of sea lice on chum salmon. This shift in predation is proposed to occur because predators show an innate preference for pink salmon prey. This preference may be more easily expressed when sea lice compromise juvenile salmon hosts, making them easier to catch. Our results indicate how the ecological context of host–parasite interactions may dampen, or even reverse, the expected impact of parasites on host populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Pink salmon University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive Canada Pacific |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalberta |
language |
English |
topic |
Salmon Parasite Model Functional Response Predation Sea Lice |
spellingShingle |
Salmon Parasite Model Functional Response Predation Sea Lice Peacock, Stephanie J. Connors, Brendan M. Krkošek, Martin Irvine, James R. Lewis, Mark A. Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
topic_facet |
Salmon Parasite Model Functional Response Predation Sea Lice |
description |
The impact of parasites on hosts is invariably negative when considered in isolation, but may be complex and unexpected in nature. For example, if parasites make hosts less desirable to predators then gains from reduced predation may offset direct costs of being parasitized. We explore these ideas in the context of sea louse infestations on salmon. In Pacific Canada, sea lice can spread from farmed salmon to migrating juvenile wild salmon. Low numbers of sea lice can cause mortality of juvenile pink and chum salmon. For pink salmon, this has resulted in reduced productivity of river populations exposed to salmon farming. However, for chum salmon, we did not find an effect of sea louse infestations on productivity, despite high statistical power. Motivated by this unexpected result, we used a mathematical model to show how a parasite-induced shift in predation pressure from chum salmon to pink salmon could offset negative direct impacts of sea lice on chum salmon. This shift in predation is proposed to occur because predators show an innate preference for pink salmon prey. This preference may be more easily expressed when sea lice compromise juvenile salmon hosts, making them easier to catch. Our results indicate how the ecological context of host–parasite interactions may dampen, or even reverse, the expected impact of parasites on host populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peacock, Stephanie J. Connors, Brendan M. Krkošek, Martin Irvine, James R. Lewis, Mark A. |
author_facet |
Peacock, Stephanie J. Connors, Brendan M. Krkošek, Martin Irvine, James R. Lewis, Mark A. |
author_sort |
Peacock, Stephanie J. |
title |
Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
title_short |
Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
title_full |
Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
title_fullStr |
Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
title_sort |
can reduced predation offset negative effects of sea louse parasites on chum salmon? |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/6582a352-5705-49e9-9d8e-3251302fb3a9 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 |
geographic |
Canada Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Canada Pacific |
genre |
Pink salmon |
genre_facet |
Pink salmon |
op_relation |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/6582a352-5705-49e9-9d8e-3251302fb3a9 doi:10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 |
op_rights |
© 2013 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-3zaj-d105 |
_version_ |
1802649179613298688 |