Earth:Ecology of fear

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Short description: Conceptual framework describing predator-stress

Snow imprints showing traces of predator-prey interaction

The ecology of fear is a conceptual framework in ecology that describes the effects of predator-induced stress on prey animals, populations, and ecosystems. The effect of predators has often been studied in terms of the prey animals they kill, but research on the ecology of fear examines non-lethal effects, including changes in prey behaviour, physiology, reproduction, survival, and population size.[1][2]

Prey animals use anti-predator defences to reduce the risk of being killed. These defences can improve survival but may also involve costs, such as reduced feeding, reproduction, or use of preferred habitat.[1]

History

The term was used in the 1999 paper "The Ecology of Fear: Optimal Foraging, Game Theory, and Trophic Interactions", which argued that "a predator [...] depletes a food patch [...] by frightening prey rather than by actually killing prey."[3] Later studies used the term in research on predator effects beyond direct killing.[4]

In the 2000s, the ecology of fear received wider attention in connection with the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone. Researchers examined whether wolves affected the feeding behaviour and habitat use of elk, and whether these changes contributed to the regrowth of aspen and willows. Other studies and commentators have argued that the regrowth may also be explained by other factors, and that the effect of wolves on elk behaviour was sometimes overstated.[2][5]

Media coverage of wolves in Yellowstone contributed to public interest in the concept. The New York Times mentioned the subject, and the March 2010 issue of National Geographic included a fold-out illustration on wolves and Yellowstone. The YouTube video How Wolves Change Rivers presented a popular account of the subject, but some scientists described it as an overstatement.[2][5]

Research has also applied the framework to other predator-prey systems. A study comparing shark and wolf research found similar behavioural responses by prey in both systems.[6] Other research has examined whether similar processes occur in host-parasite and host-pathogen interactions.[7][8][9] Related work on parasite avoidance has also been described as the "ecology of disgust".[10]

Some critics argue that the cognitive and emotional aspects of predator avoidance remain uncertain. In a 2009 paper on predation risk and elk reproduction, Scott Creel, John A. Winnie, and David Christianson wrote that this uncertainty applied to "virtually all studies of 'the ecology of fear'".[11]

Landscape of fear

The landscape of fear is a related model describing how animals perceive spatial variation in predation risk. It proposes that prey behaviour is shaped by areas of greater or lesser danger within a landscape.[12][13]

Relationship to post-traumatic stress disorder

A 2011 paper described exposure to predators as a life-threatening psychological stressor used in animal models of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The authors suggested that ecologists and neuroscientists could collaborate in studying the neurological effects of predator-induced fear and stress in wild animals.[14]

In 2019, a study reported lasting behavioural effects and PTSD-like changes in the brains of wild animals following fear-inducing interactions with predators.[15]

Human impact

Studies have found that fear of humans can affect animal behaviour.[16] Research discussed in Smithsonian Magazine reported that fear of humans can affect apex predators such as pumas.[17]

The moral philosopher Oscar Horta has argued against some predator reintroductions, contending that they can conflict with the well-being and interests of animals already living in the area by creating or increasing fear and predation risk.[18]

See also

  • Philosophy:Wild animal suffering – Suffering experienced by animals in nature through causes such as disease, injury, starvation, natural disasters, and killings by other animals

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Zanette, Liana Y.; Clinchy, Michael (2019-05-06). "Ecology of fear" (in en). Current Biology 29 (9): R309-R313. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.02.042. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 31063718. Bibcode: 2019CBio...29.R309Z. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(19)30212-X. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Robbins, Jim (2017-04-11). "The Fear Factor: How the Peril of Predators Can Transform a Landscape" (in en-US). https://e360.yale.edu/features/the-fear-factor-how-the-peril-of-predators-can-transform-a-landscape. 
  3. ↑ Brown, Joel S.; Laundré, John W.; Gurung, Mahesh (1999). "The Ecology of Fear: Optimal Foraging, Game Theory, and Trophic Interactions". Journal of Mammalogy 80 (2): 385-399. doi:10.2307/1383287. ISSN 0022-2372. 
  4. ↑ Clinchy, Michael; Zanette, Liana Y.; Roberts, Devin; Suraci, Justin P.; Buesching, Christina D.; Newman, Chris; Macdonald, David W. (2016-11-01). "Fear of the human "super predator" far exceeds the fear of large carnivores in a model mesocarnivore" (in en). Behavioral Ecology 27 (6): 1826-1832. doi:10.1093/beheco/arw117. ISSN 1045-2249. https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/27/6/1826/2453490. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ostlind, Emilene; Wade, Dave (2014-01-06). "The ecology of fear: Elk responses to wolves in Yellowstone are not what we thought" (in en). http://westernconfluence.org/the-ecology-of-fear-elk-responses-to-wolves-in-yellowstone-are-not-what-we-thought/. 
  6. ↑ Wirsing, Aaron J.; Ripple, William J. (August 2011). "A comparison of shark and wolf research reveals similar behavioral responses by prey" (in en). Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 9 (6): 335-341. doi:10.1890/090226. ISSN 1540-9295. Bibcode: 2011FrEE....9..335W. https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/090226. 
  7. ↑ Fritzsche, Alexa; Allan, Brian F. (2012-03-01). "The Ecology of Fear: Host Foraging Behavior Varies with the Spatio-temporal Abundance of a Dominant Ectoparasite" (in en). EcoHealth 9 (1): 70-74. doi:10.1007/s10393-012-0744-z. ISSN 1612-9210. PMID 22311098. 
  8. ↑ Horn, Collin J.; Mierzejewski, Monika K.; Elahi, Maesha E.; Luong, Lien T. (October 2020). "Extending the ecology of fear: Parasite-mediated sexual selection drives host response to parasites" (in en). Physiology & Behavior 224. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2020.113041. PMID 32619526. https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0031938420303553. 
  9. ↑ Daversa, D. R.; Hechinger, R. F.; Madin, E.; Fenton, A.; Dell, A. I.; Ritchie, E. G.; Rohr, J.; Rudolf, V. H. W. et al. (2021-02-24). "Broadening the ecology of fear: non-lethal effects arise from diverse responses to predation and parasitism" (in en). Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 288 (1945). doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.2966. ISSN 0962-8452. PMID 33622122. Bibcode: 2021RSPSB.28802966D. 
  10. ↑ Buck, J. C.; Weinstein, S. B.; Young, H. S. (2018-08-01). "Ecological and Evolutionary Consequences of Parasite Avoidance". Trends in Ecology & Evolution 33 (8): 619-632. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2018.05.001. ISSN 0169-5347. PMID 29807838. Bibcode: 2018TEcoE..33..619B. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534718301083. 
  11. ↑ Creel, Scott; Winnie, John A.; Christianson, David (2009-07-28). "Glucocorticoid stress hormones and the effect of predation risk on elk reproduction" (in en). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 (30): 12388-12393. doi:10.1073/pnas.0902235106. ISSN 0027-8424. PMID 19617549. Bibcode: 2009PNAS..10612388C. 
  12. ↑ Laundré, John W.; Hernández, Lucina; Ripple, William J. (2010). "The Landscape of Fear: Ecological Implications of Being Afraid". The Open Ecology Journal 3: 1-7. doi:10.2174/1874213001003030001. https://benthamopen.com/contents/pdf/TOECOLJ/TOECOLJ-3-3-1.pdf. 
  13. ↑ Yong, Ed (2016-02-23). "Nothing to Fear Except Fear Itself-Also Wolves and Bears" (in en-US). https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/02/nothing-to-fear-except-fear-itself-wolves-and-bears/470532/. 
  14. ↑ Clinchy, Michael; Schulkin, Jay; Zanette, Liana Y.; Sheriff, Michael J.; McGowan, Patrick O.; Boonstra, Rudy (2011). "The Neurological Ecology of Fear: Insights Neuroscientists and Ecologists Have to Offer one Another" (in en). Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 5: 21. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00021. ISSN 1662-5153. PMID 21629856. 
  15. ↑ Zanette, Liana Y.; Hobbs, Emma C.; Witterick, Lauren E.; MacDougall-Shackleton, Scott A.; Clinchy, Michael (2019-08-07). "Predator-induced fear causes PTSD-like changes in the brains and behaviour of wild animals" (in en). Scientific Reports 9 (1): 11474. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-47684-6. ISSN 2045-2322. PMID 31391473. Bibcode: 2019NatSR...911474Z. 
  16. ↑ Clinchy, Michael; Zanette, Liana Y.; Roberts, Devin; Suraci, Justin P.; Buesching, Christina D.; Newman, Chris; Macdonald, David W. (2016-11-01). "Fear of the human "super predator" far exceeds the fear of large carnivores in a model mesocarnivore" (in en). Behavioral Ecology 27 (6): 1826-1832. doi:10.1093/beheco/arw117. ISSN 1045-2249. https://academic.oup.com/beheco/article/27/6/1826/2453490. 
  17. ↑ Gross, Liza (2017-07-11). "How Fear of Humans Can Ripple Through Food Webs and Reshape Landscapes" (in en). https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-fear-humans-can-ripple-through-food-webs-reshape-landscapes-180963987/. 
  18. ↑ Horta, Oscar (2010-01-01). "The Ethics of the Ecology of Fear against the Nonspeciesist Paradigm: A Shift in the Aims of Intervention in Nature". Between the Species 13 (10). doi:10.15368/bts.2010v13n10.10. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bts/vol13/iss10/10. 

Further reading

Template:Wild animal suffering



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