Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves

Abstract Predator–prey interactions are among the most important biotic interactions shaping ecological communities and driving the evolution of defensive traits. These interactions and their effects on species received little attention in extreme and remote environments, where possibilities for dir...

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Autores principales:	Ester Premate, Maja Zagmajster, Cene Fišer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/cb00b0de2f4a40d69219380f5271f17b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:cb00b0de2f4a40d69219380f5271f17b2021-11-08T10:46:24ZInferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves10.1038/s41598-021-01249-82045-2322https://doaj.org/article/cb00b0de2f4a40d69219380f5271f17b2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01249-8https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Predator–prey interactions are among the most important biotic interactions shaping ecological communities and driving the evolution of defensive traits. These interactions and their effects on species received little attention in extreme and remote environments, where possibilities for direct observations and experimental manipulation of the animals are limited. In this paper, we study such type of environment, namely caves of the Dinarides (Europe), combining spatial and phylogenetic methods. We focused on several species of Niphargus amphipods living in phreatic lakes, as some of them use the dorsal spines as putative morphological defensive traits. We predicted that these spines represent a defense strategy against the olm (Proteus anguinus), a top predator species in the subterranean waters. We tested for spatial overlap of the olm and Niphargus species and showed that spined species live in closer proximity to and co-occur more frequently with the olm than non-spined species. Modeling of the evolution of the spines onto Niphargus phylogeny implies coevolution of this trait in the presence of olm. We conclude that these spines likely evolved as defensive traits in a predator–prey arms race. Combining multiple analyses, we provide an example for a methodological framework to assess predator–prey interactions when in-situ or laboratory observations are not possible.Ester PremateMaja ZagmajsterCene FišerNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Ester Premate Maja Zagmajster Cene Fišer Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves
description	Abstract Predator–prey interactions are among the most important biotic interactions shaping ecological communities and driving the evolution of defensive traits. These interactions and their effects on species received little attention in extreme and remote environments, where possibilities for direct observations and experimental manipulation of the animals are limited. In this paper, we study such type of environment, namely caves of the Dinarides (Europe), combining spatial and phylogenetic methods. We focused on several species of Niphargus amphipods living in phreatic lakes, as some of them use the dorsal spines as putative morphological defensive traits. We predicted that these spines represent a defense strategy against the olm (Proteus anguinus), a top predator species in the subterranean waters. We tested for spatial overlap of the olm and Niphargus species and showed that spined species live in closer proximity to and co-occur more frequently with the olm than non-spined species. Modeling of the evolution of the spines onto Niphargus phylogeny implies coevolution of this trait in the presence of olm. We conclude that these spines likely evolved as defensive traits in a predator–prey arms race. Combining multiple analyses, we provide an example for a methodological framework to assess predator–prey interactions when in-situ or laboratory observations are not possible.
format	article
author	Ester Premate Maja Zagmajster Cene Fišer
author_facet	Ester Premate Maja Zagmajster Cene Fišer
author_sort	Ester Premate
title	Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves
title_short	Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves
title_full	Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves
title_fullStr	Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves
title_full_unstemmed	Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves
title_sort	inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from dinaric caves
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/cb00b0de2f4a40d69219380f5271f17b
work_keys_str_mv	AT esterpremate inferringpredatorpreyinteractioninthesubterraneanenvironmentacasestudyfromdinariccaves AT majazagmajster inferringpredatorpreyinteractioninthesubterraneanenvironmentacasestudyfromdinariccaves AT cenefiser inferringpredatorpreyinteractioninthesubterraneanenvironmentacasestudyfromdinariccaves
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Inferring predator–prey interaction in the subterranean environment: a case study from Dinaric caves

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