title: Interactive influence of biotic and abiotic cues on the plasticity of preferred body temperatures in a predator-prey system.
abstract: The ability to modify phenotypes in response to heterogeneity of the thermal environment represents an important component of an ectotherm's non-genetic adaptive capacity. Despite considerable attention being dedicated to the study of thermally-induced developmental plasticity, whether or not interspecific interactions shape the plastic response in both a predator and its prey remains unknown. We tested several predictions about the joint influence of predator/prey scents and thermal conditions on the plasticity of preferred body temperatures (T (p)) in both actors of this interaction, using a dragonfly nymphs-newt larvae system. Dragonfly nymphs (Aeshna cyanea) and newt eggs (Ichthyosaura alpestris) were subjected to fluctuating cold and warm thermal regimes (7-12 and 12-22°C, respectively) and the presence/absence of a predator or prey chemical cues. Preferred body temperatures were measured in an aquatic thermal gradient (5-33°C) over a 24-h period. Newt T (p) increased with developmental temperature irrespective of the presence/absence of predator cues. In dragonflies, thermal reaction norms for T (p) were affected by the interaction between temperature and prey cues. Specifically, the presence of newt scents in cold regime lowered dragonfly T (p). We concluded that predator-prey interactions influenced thermally-induced plasticity of T (p) but not in a reciprocal fashion. The occurrence of frequency-dependent thermal plasticity may have broad implications for predator-prey population dynamics, the evolution of thermal biology traits, and the consequences of sustaining climate change within ecological communities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Biology, Institute of Vertebrate Biology AS CR, Studenec 122, 67502, Koněšín, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Radovan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smolinský
authors.forename: Lumír
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gvoždík
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D004531:Eggs; D020387:Food Chain; D007814:Larva; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D063191:Odonata / Q000254:growth & development*; D010641:Phenotype; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012455:Salamandridae / Q000254:growth & development*