Effects of eelgrass (Zostera marina) fragmentation on grass shrimp (Palaemon sp.) distribution and cod (Gadus morhua) foraging behaviour
(2011)Division aquatic ecology
- Abstract
- Seagrass fragmentation is a process that results in changes to landscape features and can seriously impact certain fauna groups. To understand how habitat fragmentation and patch size influences predator-prey interaction has become an important task for researches worldwide, in order to visualize how this process affects key species in this environment. We performed laboratory experiments to investigate how eelgrass fragmentation levels and patch size affect 1) grass shrimp’s distribution in absence and presence of a cod predator and 2) cod’s feeding behaviour. Our results showed that predator odour did not trigger any response in grass shrimp and they only searched for refugee in the eelgrass bed when a predator was actively foraging.... (More)
- Seagrass fragmentation is a process that results in changes to landscape features and can seriously impact certain fauna groups. To understand how habitat fragmentation and patch size influences predator-prey interaction has become an important task for researches worldwide, in order to visualize how this process affects key species in this environment. We performed laboratory experiments to investigate how eelgrass fragmentation levels and patch size affect 1) grass shrimp’s distribution in absence and presence of a cod predator and 2) cod’s feeding behaviour. Our results showed that predator odour did not trigger any response in grass shrimp and they only searched for refugee in the eelgrass bed when a predator was actively foraging. Furthermore, the different fragmentation levels did not have any significant influence on grass shrimp’s distribution. However, we could detect a tendency in grass shrimp to choose patches with higher number of edges. Additionally, cod individuals were seen to spend more time foraging in non-fragmented eelgrass bed compared to fragmented ones. However, the number of preys captured by cod does not change with this behaviour. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1978168
- author
- Berg Hasper, Thomas
- supervisor
-
- Tony Fagerberg LU
- Per Carlsson LU
- organization
- year
- 2011
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Eelgrass (Zostera marina), Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua), Grass shrimp (Palaemon sp.), Habitat Fragmentati-on, Edge effect.
- language
- English
- id
- 1978168
- date added to LUP
- 2016-09-13 09:45:41
- date last changed
- 2016-09-13 09:45:41
@misc{1978168,
abstract = {{Seagrass fragmentation is a process that results in changes to landscape features and can seriously impact certain fauna groups. To understand how habitat fragmentation and patch size influences predator-prey interaction has become an important task for researches worldwide, in order to visualize how this process affects key species in this environment. We performed laboratory experiments to investigate how eelgrass fragmentation levels and patch size affect 1) grass shrimp’s distribution in absence and presence of a cod predator and 2) cod’s feeding behaviour. Our results showed that predator odour did not trigger any response in grass shrimp and they only searched for refugee in the eelgrass bed when a predator was actively foraging. Furthermore, the different fragmentation levels did not have any significant influence on grass shrimp’s distribution. However, we could detect a tendency in grass shrimp to choose patches with higher number of edges. Additionally, cod individuals were seen to spend more time foraging in non-fragmented eelgrass bed compared to fragmented ones. However, the number of preys captured by cod does not change with this behaviour.}},
author = {{Berg Hasper, Thomas}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Effects of eelgrass (Zostera marina) fragmentation on grass shrimp (Palaemon sp.) distribution and cod (Gadus morhua) foraging behaviour}},
year = {{2011}},
}