Chemoreception plays an important role in predator-prey interactions and feeding dynamics. While the chemoreception of attractant or pleasant tasting compounds has been well studied, aversive chemoreceptive signaling has been difficult to investigate behaviorally in an ecological context because these interactions are species- and context- specific and deterrent compounds vary among prey. Using the coral reef system, this thesis explores on a molecular level the deterrent mechanism underlying detection by fish predators of an aversive compound, in order to gain a greater understanding of predator-prey interactions in this community. Like other organisms that are sessile or slow-moving, marine sponges have special mechanisms for defense from predation, commonly containing aversive-tasting compounds that defend these organisms from predation. To this end, we sought to identify and characterize a fish chemoreceptor that detects one or more of these compounds. We isolated a single cDNA clone encoding RAMP-like triterpene glycoside receptor (RL-TGR), a novel co-receptor involved in the signaling of triterpene glycosides. This co-receptor appears to be structurally and functionally related to receptor activity-modifying proteins (RAMPs), a family of co-receptors that physically associate with and modify the activity of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). Expression in Xenopus oocytes showed that it responds to triterpene glycosides in a receptor-mediated manner and requires co-expression of a GPCR to enable signaling in oocytes; both of these receptors may be components of a larger signaling complex. A 40 bp portion of the gene is conserved across multiple fish species, but is not found in any other organism with a sequenced genome, suggesting that the expression of this receptor is limited to fish species. RL-TGR is the first identified gene encoding a co-receptor that responds to a chemical defense. This finding may lead the way for the identification of many other receptors that mediate chemical defense signaling in both marine and terrestrial environments, as this protein has the potential to represent the first of an entire family of co-receptors that respond to aversive compounds.

Erratum pages inserted onto front end papers. / Bibliography: leaves 226-244. / vi, 244 leaves ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / This thesis developed mathematical models of commercially exploited fish populations, addressing the question of how to harvest a predator-prey metapopulation. Optimal harvesting strategies are found using dynamic programming and Lagrange multipliers. Rules about harvesting source/sink populations, more/less vulnerable prey subpopulations and more/less efficient predator subpopulations are explored. Strategies for harvesting critical prey subpopulations are suggested. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Applied Mathematics, 2000?

Mémoire (M.Ress.Renouv.)-- Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, 1994. / Document électronique également accessible en format PDF. CaQCU

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-58). Also available on the World Wide Web.

x, 62 leaves : ill. ; 29 cm Notes Typescript Thesis (M.S.)--University of Oregon, 1987 Includes vita and abstract Bibliography: leaves 54-62 Another copy on microfilm is located in Archives

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-02T11:16:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-04-11Bitstream added on 2014-12-02T11:21:33Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000799124_20151101.pdf: 111843 bytes, checksum: 2c6e3c190259c848ea94b2f4803d4d76 (MD5) Bitstreams deleted on 2015-11-03T14:39:16Z: 000799124_20151101.pdf,. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-11-03T14:40:17Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000799124.pdf: 1194967 bytes, checksum: c142b75364ce6451c42c56e71008f2ee (MD5) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / É amplamente sabido que os subsídios alóctones entram nas teias alimentares receptoras participando diretamente da dinâmica dos consumidores e indiretamente sobre as interações predador-presa. No entanto, este conhecimento se baseia em estudos feitos em florestas temperadas e por conseguinte ainda há lacunas no conhecimento dos sistemas tropicais, onde a abundância e variedade das presas é maior. Neste trabalho, buscamos descrever o efeito dos insetos aquáticos emergentes sobre a dinâmica predador-presa das teias alimentares terrestres presentes em zonas ripárias de uma floresta tropical. Para testar este efeito, utilizamos um desenho experimental de blocos aleatorizados. Deste modo, manipulamos a emergencia de insetos adultos de um riacho, utilizando um tratamento de exclusão com uma cobertura plástica sobre o riacho e um tratamento de controle, onde permitimos a emergência natural dos insetos para a terra. Amostramos os insetos aquáticos emergentes com armadilhas adesivas e os artrópodes terrestres (predadores, fitófagos, onívoros, detritívoros) usando diversos métodos. A abundância de insetos aquáticos emergentes foi cinco vezes menor no tratamento de exclusão do que no tratramento de controle, mas como esperado, não houve diferenças nas abundâncias de insetos alados terrestres entre os tratamentos; insetos terrestres foram três vezes mais abundantes que os insetos aquáticos emergentes. PERMANOVA revelou que a abundância de predadores terrestres foi afetada pelo tratamento de exclusão de subsídios, mas não a biomassa. No entanto, análises univariadas mostraram que apenas 11,5% dos taxons de predadores (Anyphaenidae, Araneidae e Theridiidae) diminuíram sua abundância no tratamento de exclusão e o 7,7% deles (Araneidae e Theridiidae) diminuíram sua biomassa na exclusão. A abundância dos fitófagos, detritívoros e onívoros não foi afetada pela exclusão de subsídios, mas a biomassa dos fitófagos ... / It is widely known that input of allochthonous subsidies in recipient food webs directly participate in the dynamics of consumers and indirectly on predator-prey interactions. However, this knowledge is based on studies from temperate forests, thus there is still a gap in the knowledge of tropical systems where the abundance and diversity of terrestrial prey is high. In this study, we investigate the effects of emergent aquatic insects on predator-prey dynamics of tropical terrestrial food webs. To test this effect, we excluded allochthonous aquatic insects using greenhouse type exclosures, and allowed emergence of insects through unmanipulated stream reaches using a randomized design. Emergent aquatic insects and terrestrial flying insects were collected through sticky traps. Terrestrial arthropods in shrubs and ground were collected manually in nocturnal and diurnal surveys, and were classified in predators, phytophages, detritivores and omnivores. The abundance of aquatic insects was five times lower in exclosures than control, but there was no effect of treatment on abundance of terrestrial fly insects; abundance of terrestrial insects were three times more abundant that aquatic insects. PERMANOVA revealed that abundance of terrestrial predators, but not their biomass, was affected by exclosure treatment. Univariate analysis show that only 11.5% of predatory taxa (Anyphaenidae, Araneidae and Theridiidae) decreased its abundance in exclosure treatment and only 7.7% of them (Araneidae and Theridiidae) decreased its biomass. Abundance of phytophages, detritivores and omnivores was not affected by treatments, but the biomass of phytophages increased six times in exclosure treatment. Despite the abundance and biomass of only few predators were affected by exclosure, we observed that predators overall derived more than 80% of N and C of aquatic prey. Our results demonstrate that allochthonous subsidies participate on terrestrial food web ...

Predation, classically described as the negative effect of the predator on the density of their prey, will be examined for their effects on the behavior of prey,in the form of antipredator responses. Antipredator responses may arise on the morphology, physiology and/or the behavior of prey, by predation or by the mere presence of the predator, in this case called non-lethal predator. In this context we mainly examine the effect of predators on foraging and change of habitat of their prey, as a antipredator response. Through the diversity of models surveyed, we exam the dynamics as often they are analised, through indirect effects mediated by density, and exam the same dynamic added of the trait-mediated indirect effects,through behavioral modeling techniques. / A predação, classicamente descrita como sendo o efeito negativo do predador sobre a densidade de suas presas, será aqui analisada a respeito de seus efeitos sobre o comportamental da presa, na forma de resposta antipredatória. Respostas antipredatórias podem surgir sobre a morfologia, a fisiologia e/ou o comportamental da presa, pela predação ou pela mera presença do predador,nesse caso denominado de predador não letal. Nesse contexto examinamos principalmente o efeito do predador sobre o forrageamento e a mudança de habitat de suas presas, como forma de resposta antipredatória. Por meio dos diversos modelos pesquisados, buscamos avaliar as dinâmicas da forma usualmente analisada, através dos efeitos indiretos mediados pela densidade, e analisar essa mesma dinâmica adicionada dos efeitos indiretos mediados por traço, através da modelagem comportamental.

A fauna edáfica em ecossistemas naturais é grande e variada, envolvendo em escala considerável os ácaros. Dentre os vários grupos de ácaros presentes no solo, destaca-se a Ordem Mesostigmata, por compreender um grande número de espécies, muitas das quais predadoras de outros artrópodes edáficos. Diversas pragas agrícolas, como espécies de ácaros, tripes e dípteros da família Sciaridae vivem no solo ou nele passam parte do seu ciclo. Tem-se verificado em outros países que algumas dessas pragas são atacadas e podem em certos casos ser controladas por predadores Mesostigmata. Entre os predadores mais estudados deste grupo estão os pertencentes à família Laelapidae. O Brasil tem sido citado como um país de "mega-diversidade" biológica. Compete aos pesquisadores despenderem esforços no sentido de detectar a possibilidade de uso prático desta diversidade. Os objetivos deste trabalho foram a elaboração de um catálogo com informações taxonômicas para espécies de Laelapidae pertencentes às subfamílias Hypoaspidinae e Melittiphinae que ocorrem no mundo, a identificação dos gêneros de ácaros Mesostigmata edáficos e das espécies de ácaros da família Laelapidae coletados em trabalhos anteriores e que permaneciam não identificados na coleção acarológica do Laboratório de Acarologia da Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz"-Universidade de São Paulo, a descrição de espécies novas de Laelapidae encontradas naquele material; a elaboração de chaves taxonômicas para auxiliar na distinção dos gêneros mencionados no catálogo elaborado e das espécies determinadas neste estudo, a avaliação preliminar do uso prático de predadores encontrados naturalmente no Estado de São Paulo para o controle de pragas edáficas e o desenvolvimento de um método para a produção massal de uma espécie daquele grupo. Foram realizadas buscas em bancos de dados para a detecção de bibliografia para a elaboração do catálogo, o qual é de grande utilidade para o desenvolvimento de trabalhos com a família Laelapidae, reunindo informações taxonômicas e referências a gêneros e espécies dispersos na literatura internacional. Esse catálogo contém informações sobre 792 espécies que constituem as subfamílias Hypoaspidinae e Melittiphinae. Com base nas características dos ácaros coletados e na literatura, foram elaboradas chaves taxonômicas, fundamentais para pesquisadores que trabalham com Mesostigmata de solo do Estado de São Paulo. Foram coletados ácaros predadores da família Laelapidae em áreas naturais para a realização de testes que indicaram seu potencial de uso em programas de controle biológico de pragas edáficas de várias culturas. Cosmolaelaps sp. n. e Stratiolaelaps scimitus (Womersley) mostraram um bom potencial como agentes de controle biológico sobre pragas de solo. Estimulados pelos resultados obtidos por pesquisadores em outros países com o uso de ácaros Laelapidae no controle de pragas edáficas, e em função da presente demanda de agricultores paulistas, desenvolveu-se também neste trabalho um método de criação massal de um daqueles predadores, Stratiolaelaps scimitus. / The edaphic fauna in natural ecosystems is large and diverse, involving the mites in large scale. Among the groups of soil mites, the Order Mesostigmata is of great importance, because it contains a large number of species, many of which are predators of other edaphic arthropods. Several agricultural pests, as mites, thrips and Sciaridae flies, live in the soil or spend part of their cycles in it. It has been verified in other countries that some of these pests are attacked and in some cases can be controlled by Mesostigmata predators. Some of the best studies predators of this group are species of Laelapidae. Brazil has been cited as a country of " biological megadiversity" . It is expected that the Brazil?s researchers dedicate efforts to detect the possible practical use of this diversity. The objectives of this work were the publication of a catalog with taxonomic information on the world species on the subfamilies Hypoaspidinae and Melittiphinae (Laelapidae), the identification of the genera of edaphic Mesostigmata and of the species of laelapids collected in previous works and remaining unidentified in the acarology collection of the Acarology Laboratory of Escola Superior de Agricultura "Luiz de Queiroz" -Universidade de São Paulo, the description of new species of Laelapidae found in that material, the construction of taxonomic keys to assist in the separation of the genera mentioned in the catalog and of the species determined in this study, the preliminary evaluation of the practical use of predators naturally occurring in the State of São Paulo for the control of edaphic pests and the development of the mass production of a species of that group. Literature searches were conducted to detect publications to be included in the catalog, which is of great importance for the development research on Laelapidae, for putting together taxonomic information and references on the genera and species of this family that is disperse in international literature. Based on the characteristics of the collected mites and literature information, taxonomic keys, fundamental tools for researchers that work with edaphic Mesostigmata of the State of São Paulo, were prepared. Laelapid species were collected in natural areas to test their potential use in programs of biological control of edaphic pests. Stimulated by the results of authors of other countries in relation to the use of laelapid mites in the control of edaphic pests, and because of the present demand of growers of the State of São Paulo, a method of mass production of those predators was also developed in this work.

Orientador: José Roberto Trigo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-23T04:31:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Mariscal_AdrianoAffonso_M.pdf: 5931496 bytes, checksum: beff506193372fed1f1ae62149a3f37d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: O resumo poderá ser visualizado no texto completo da tese digital / Abstract: The abstract is available with the full electronic document / Mestrado / Ecologia / Mestre em Biologia Animal

Predator reintroductions are becoming increasingly more common for multiple reasons, including assisting with the conservation of a predator species, the restoration of ecosystem functions and the economic benefits of their reintroduction for ecotourism ventures. There remains however, little knowledge on prey species responses to these predator reintroductions. As such, the reintroduction of cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus) into Samara Private Game Reserve provided an opportunity to investigate prey responses to predator reintroduction across a range of spatial and temporal scales. More specifically, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of cheetah predation risk on habitat use and behavioural responses of the resident ungulate community. Samara is divided into “predator present” and “predator absent” sections, providing the opportunity to conduct a comparative study investigating the effect of cheetah on prey responses. It was hypothesized that different ungulate species would respond differently to the presence of cheetah, depending on differences in perceived vulnerability to cheetah predation. To address this, shifts in habitat use, and behavioural responses of the ungulate community reflected at landscape and patch scale were investigated. Overall, ungulate species have not shifted habitat use since cheetah reintroduction, this was possibly related to life history strategy constraints and the need for individuals to obtain suitable forage and therefore remain in specific habitats. While no shift in habitat use was observed for the majority of ungulate species, a shift in behaviour was observed for kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros) at a landscape scale, where kudu dedicated more time to vigilance and less time to foraging within the predator section. In addition, individuals within smaller kudu groups were observed to be more vigilant than individuals within larger groups of kudu within the predator section. Although the other three ungulate species monitored did not increase time spent vigilant within the predator section, they still maintained relatively high levels of vigilance, potentially as a means of social monitoring. At a patch level, ungulate species responded strongly to a predator cue as a proxy for cheetah proximity, and increased time spent vigilant with a trade-off of lower foraging effort. This vigilant response was strongest for kudu. Differences in perceived predation risk were reflected within eland (Tragelaphus oryx) and kudu species demographic classes, with juvenile eland and kudu, adult female kudu and subadult female kudu spending more time vigilant within manipulated patches than respective males of each species. Kudu were also observed adopting fine-scale behavioural responses to minimize predation risk within patches. The asymmetrical prey species response to perceived predation risk from cheetah supports the hypothesis that different species respond differently to the presence of a predator. Furthermore, this study illustrated the importance of measuring prey responses to predation risk across multiple scales and highlighted the need to replicate this study for a number of different sites where predators have been reintroduced, to better understand the range of factors influencing these predator-prey interactions.