Testing the threat-sensitive predator avoidance hypothesis: physiological responses and predator pressure in wild rabbits
Predation is a strong selective force with both direct and indirect effects on an animal’s fitness. In order to increase the chances of survival, animals have developed different antipredator strategies. However, these strategies have associated costs, so animals should assess their actual risk of p...
| Autores: | , , , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2009 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/51512 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/51512 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Fecal corticosterone metabolites Oryctolagus cuniculus Predator pressure Threat-sensitive predator avoidance hypothesis |
| Sumario: | Predation is a strong selective force with both direct and indirect effects on an animal’s fitness. In order to increase the chances of survival, animals have developed different antipredator strategies. However, these strategies have associated costs, so animals should assess their actual risk of predation and shape their antipredator effort accordingly. Under a stressful situation, such as the pres- ence of predators, animals display a physiological stress response that might be proportional to the risk perceived. We tested this hypothesis in wild European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), subjected to different predator pressures, in Don˜ ana National Park (Spain). We measured the concentrations of fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM) in 20 rabbit populations. By means of track cen- suses we obtained indexes of mammalian predator presence for each rabbit population. Other factors that could modify the physiological stress response, such as breeding status, food availability and rabbit density, were also considered. Model selection based on information theory showed that predator pressure was the main factor triggering the glucocorticoid release and that the physio- logical stress response was positively correlated with the indexes of the presence of mammalian carnivore predators. Other factors, such as food availability and density of rabbits, were considerably less important. We conclude that rabbits are able to assess their actual risk of predation and show a threat-sensitive physiological response |
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