Behaviour-dependent predation risk in swimming zooplankters

Authored by Marco Uttieri, Daniela Cianelli, Enrico Zambianchi

Date Published: 2013

DOI: 10.1186/1810-522x-52-32

Sponsors: No sponsors listed

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Flow charts Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Background: The survival of zooplanktonic organisms is determined by their capability of moving in a fluid environment, trading off between the necessities of finding prey and avoiding predators. In previous numerical experiments, we concentrated on the relationship between natatorial modality and encounter success of a virtual copepod swimming in the presence of prey distributed either in patches or uniformly in the environment. Results: In this contribution, we extend this simulation framework to the encounter with chaetognaths, the primary copepod predators, considering different motion rules as a proxy of different swimming strategies and looking at the influence of the concentration of predators and the size of their detection radius in posing a risk on copepod survival. The outcomes of our simulations indicate that more convoluted trajectories are more vulnerable to predator encounter while straighter motions reduce predation risk. Conclusions: Our results are then complemented with those obtained in our previous studies to perform a general cost-benefit analysis of zooplankton motion.

Tags

individual-based models Random-walk Prey detection Chaetognath sagitta-elegans Small-scale turbulence Temora-longicornis Pacific coast Feeding rates Contact rates Copepods