Meeting Abstract
Predation is one of the central organizing themes in ecology. Predators may affect their prey through both direct predation (i.e. killing), and indirect predation (i.e. risk effects). Two important outcomes of risk effects are physiological and behavioral changes, with physiological changes mediating behavior to return the animal to homeostasis. However, rarely are these two outcomes studied in concert in wild animals exposed to chronic predation stress in the field. Here, we exposed wild deer mice to chronic predation stress in the field via aerial predator playbacks. After 18 days of exposure, deer mice continued to have elevated glucocorticoid levels and decreased foraging in predator-exposed vs. control grids. Foraging was also dependent on microhabitat, such that foraging further decreased in open areas compared to closed, highly vegetated areas. Our results suggest that behavioral shifts did not compensate for physiological changes and vice versa after 18 days. Further, physiological and behavioral changes may be codependent, and driven by multiple risk stimuli simultaneously, resulting in context-dependent antipredator behaviors of various magnitudes.
