A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Opposite latitudinal patterns for bird and arthropod predation revealed in experiments with differently colored artificial prey
Authors: Zvereva EL, Castagneyrol B, Cornelissen T, Forsman A, Hernandez-Aguero JA, Klemola T, Paolucci L, Polo V, Salinas N, Theron KJ, Xu GR, Zverev V, Kozlov MV
Publisher: WILEY
Publication year: 2019
Journal: Ecology and Evolution
Journal name in source: ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
Journal acronym: ECOL EVOL
Volume: 9
Issue: 24
First page : 14273
Last page: 14285
Number of pages: 13
ISSN: 2045-7758
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5862(external)
Web address : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ece3.5862(external)
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/44095655(external)
The strength of biotic interactions is generally thought to increase toward the equator, but support for this hypothesis is contradictory. We explored whether predator attacks on artificial prey of eight different colors vary among climates and whether this variation affects the detection of latitudinal patterns in predation. Bird attack rates negatively correlated with model luminance in cold and temperate environments, but not in tropical environments. Bird predation on black and on white (extremes in luminance) models demonstrated different latitudinal patterns, presumably due to differences in prey conspicuousness between habitats with different light regimes. When attacks on models of all colors were combined, arthropod predation decreased, whereas bird predation increased with increasing latitude. We conclude that selection for prey coloration may vary geographically and according to predator identity, and that the importance of different predators may show contrasting patterns, thus weakening the overall latitudinal trend in top-down control of herbivorous insects.
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