Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon
There is an increasing realization of the diverse mechanisms by which parasites and pathogens influence the dynamics of host populations and communities. In multi‐host systems, parasites may mediate food web dynamics with unexpected outcomes for host populations. Models have been used to explore the...
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ftunivalberta:oai:era.library.ualberta.ca:d4679eb6-171c-41bd-9215-87f2662f3614 2024-06-23T07:56:13+00:00 Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon Peacock, Stephanie J. Krkošek, Martin Bateman, Andrew W. Lewis, Mark A. 2015-01-01 https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/d4679eb6-171c-41bd-9215-87f2662f3614 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-ny3m-3586 English eng https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/d4679eb6-171c-41bd-9215-87f2662f3614 doi:10.7939/r3-ny3m-3586 © 2015 Peacock et al. Predation Salmon Functional Response Model Averaging British Columbia Oncorhynchus Gorbusha Oncorhynchus Kisutch Parasite-Mediated Behavior Lepeophtheirus Salmonis Prey Preference Oncorhynchus Keta Article (Published) 2015 ftunivalberta https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-ny3m-3586 2024-06-03T03:09:00Z There is an increasing realization of the diverse mechanisms by which parasites and pathogens influence the dynamics of host populations and communities. In multi‐host systems, parasites may mediate food web dynamics with unexpected outcomes for host populations. Models have been used to explore the potential consequences of interactions between hosts, parasites and predators, but connections between theory and data are rare. Here, we consider sea louse parasites (Lepeophtheirus salmonis), which directly increase mortality of juvenile salmon hosts (Oncorhynchus spp.). We use mathematical models and field‐based experiments to investigate how the indirect effects of parasitism via predation influence mortality of sympatric juvenile chum salmon (O. keta) and pink salmon (O. gorbuscha). Our experiments show that coho salmon predators (O. kisutch) selectively prey on pink salmon and on parasitized prey. Preference for pink salmon increased slightly when prey were parasitized by sea lice, although there was considerable uncertainty regarding this result. Despite this uncertainty, we show that even the small increase in preference that we observed may be biologically significant. We calculate a critical threshold of pink salmon abundance above which chum salmon may experience a parasite‐mediated release from predation as predation shifts towards preferred prey species. This work highlights the importance of considering community interactions, such as predation, when assessing the risk that emerging parasites and pathogens pose to wildlife populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Pink salmon University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive Pacific Keta ENVELOPE(-19.455,-19.455,65.656,65.656) Gorbusha ENVELOPE(162.115,162.115,56.103,56.103) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alberta: Era - Education and Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalberta |
language |
English |
topic |
Predation Salmon Functional Response Model Averaging British Columbia Oncorhynchus Gorbusha Oncorhynchus Kisutch Parasite-Mediated Behavior Lepeophtheirus Salmonis Prey Preference Oncorhynchus Keta |
spellingShingle |
Predation Salmon Functional Response Model Averaging British Columbia Oncorhynchus Gorbusha Oncorhynchus Kisutch Parasite-Mediated Behavior Lepeophtheirus Salmonis Prey Preference Oncorhynchus Keta Peacock, Stephanie J. Krkošek, Martin Bateman, Andrew W. Lewis, Mark A. Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon |
topic_facet |
Predation Salmon Functional Response Model Averaging British Columbia Oncorhynchus Gorbusha Oncorhynchus Kisutch Parasite-Mediated Behavior Lepeophtheirus Salmonis Prey Preference Oncorhynchus Keta |
description |
There is an increasing realization of the diverse mechanisms by which parasites and pathogens influence the dynamics of host populations and communities. In multi‐host systems, parasites may mediate food web dynamics with unexpected outcomes for host populations. Models have been used to explore the potential consequences of interactions between hosts, parasites and predators, but connections between theory and data are rare. Here, we consider sea louse parasites (Lepeophtheirus salmonis), which directly increase mortality of juvenile salmon hosts (Oncorhynchus spp.). We use mathematical models and field‐based experiments to investigate how the indirect effects of parasitism via predation influence mortality of sympatric juvenile chum salmon (O. keta) and pink salmon (O. gorbuscha). Our experiments show that coho salmon predators (O. kisutch) selectively prey on pink salmon and on parasitized prey. Preference for pink salmon increased slightly when prey were parasitized by sea lice, although there was considerable uncertainty regarding this result. Despite this uncertainty, we show that even the small increase in preference that we observed may be biologically significant. We calculate a critical threshold of pink salmon abundance above which chum salmon may experience a parasite‐mediated release from predation as predation shifts towards preferred prey species. This work highlights the importance of considering community interactions, such as predation, when assessing the risk that emerging parasites and pathogens pose to wildlife populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Peacock, Stephanie J. Krkošek, Martin Bateman, Andrew W. Lewis, Mark A. |
author_facet |
Peacock, Stephanie J. Krkošek, Martin Bateman, Andrew W. Lewis, Mark A. |
author_sort |
Peacock, Stephanie J. |
title |
Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon |
title_short |
Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon |
title_full |
Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon |
title_fullStr |
Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon |
title_full_unstemmed |
Parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile Pacific salmon |
title_sort |
parasitism and food web dynamics of juvenile pacific salmon |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/d4679eb6-171c-41bd-9215-87f2662f3614 https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-ny3m-3586 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-19.455,-19.455,65.656,65.656) ENVELOPE(162.115,162.115,56.103,56.103) |
geographic |
Pacific Keta Gorbusha |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Keta Gorbusha |
genre |
Pink salmon |
genre_facet |
Pink salmon |
op_relation |
https://era.library.ualberta.ca/items/d4679eb6-171c-41bd-9215-87f2662f3614 doi:10.7939/r3-ny3m-3586 |
op_rights |
© 2015 Peacock et al. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-ny3m-3586 |
_version_ |
1802649178614005760 |