@article{jandricic_schmidt_bryant_frank_2016, title={Non-consumptive predator effects on a primary greenhouse pest: Predatory mite harassment reduces western flower thrips abundance and plant damage}, volume={95}, ISSN={["1090-2112"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.biocontrol.2015.12.012}, abstractNote={Prey react to the presence of predators in suite of ways that reduce predation risk, but may also negatively affect fitness. Non-consumptive effects (NCEs) of predators on prey are likely important components of biological control and moderators of plant damage in agricultural systems. Yet, few studies have investigated their effects in crops relying on augmentative release of natural enemies for protection. Here, we investigated NCEs of the predatory mite Neoseiulus cucumeris on a non-prey life stage of western flower thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), one of the most damaging pest of greenhouse crops in the world. Second instar thrips were exposed to 2 adult female mites on a leaf disk for 24 h. Over a 20 min observation period, we saw a 22% reduction in thrips feeding behavior in the presence of predatory mites compared to thrips alone. Thrips feeding was often interrupted by attempted mite attacks, which averaged 4 attacks per thrips over 20 min. After 24 h, this reduced leaf damage by 51% in the predator treatment compared to the control. This result held true in experiments on whole plants, with damage reduced by 38% in the presence of mites. No significant reduction in feeding activity or damage was observed when larval thrips were exposed to non-predatory mites, conspecifics, or leaves which had previously held large numbers of predatory mites. The presence of mites did not alter thrips development time or final adult size. However, survival to adulthood was decreased by 54–78% in the presence of mites, suggesting a lack of nutritional reserves necessary to complete development. This study demonstrates that NCEs of predatory mites can induce a trophic cascade by reducing pest feeding and fitness. Such beneficial effects of natural enemies are often overlooked in simple predation and efficacy studies.}, journal={BIOLOGICAL CONTROL}, author={Jandricic, S. E. and Schmidt, Danielle and Bryant, G. and Frank, S. D.}, year={2016}, month={Apr}, pages={5–12} }
 @article{heinen-kay_schmidt_stafford_costa_peterson_kern_langerhans_2016, title={Predicting multifarious behavioural divergence in the wild}, volume={121}, ISSN={["1095-8282"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.08.016}, abstractNote={Many animals show complex behaviours that can have important ecological and evolutionary consequences. Environmental variation can lead to divergent selection that consistently favours particular behaviours in different environments; but how predictably multiple aspects of animal behaviour diverge in response to different environmental conditions remains unclear. We tested whether populations evolving under different levels of predation risk show predictable and repeatable population-level behavioural differences in all five primary components of animal personality: aggression, sociability, boldness, activity and exploration. We formulated and tested a priori predictions of divergence for each behaviour using the adaptive radiation of Bahamas mosquitofish, Gambusia hubbsi (family Poeciliidae), inhabiting vertical water-filled caves (blue holes) where they have evolved for thousands of years in either the presence or absence of predatory fish. Mosquitofish behaviours differed consistently, and largely predictably, between predation regimes: low-predation mosquitofish showed reduced sociability and greater exploration of a novel environment compared to high-predation counterparts. However, some differences were sex dependent: only females showed greater boldness and only males displayed reduced aggressiveness in low-predation populations. Activity levels did not differ between predation regimes. All populations showed a behavioural syndrome characteristic of either proactive or reactive stress-coping styles with regard to exploration. Exploration behavioural syndromes were more similar among populations that evolved in similar predation regimes, regardless of genetic relatedness. Using laboratory-born, high-predation mosquitofish, we confirmed that exploratory behaviours have a genetic basis and show significant within-individual repeatability. Our results suggest that environmental variation, such as chronic predation risk, can lead to repeatable, and often predictable, changes in multifarious animal behaviours, and that various aspects of behaviour can diversify more or less independently of one another. Considering the ecological importance of these behaviours, the ability to forecast behavioural shifts in a rapidly changing world could serve as a valuable conservation tool.}, journal={ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR}, author={Heinen-Kay, Justa L. and Schmidt, Danielle A. and Stafford, A. Tayt and Costa, Michael T. and Peterson, M. Nils and Kern, Elizabeth M. A. and Langerhans, R. Brian}, year={2016}, month={Nov}, pages={3–10} }