The effects of satiation level and competition risk on resource acquisition in red swamp crayfish ( Procambarus clarkii
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The effects of satiation level and competition risk on resource acquisition in red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) Ciara J. Mergler . Alexandra N. Ludwig . Brian G. Gall
Received: 19 March 2020 / Accepted: 21 May 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Strategies of resource acquisition are subject to change due to introduced pressures placed upon individual animals. The pressures of food deprivation and competition can lead to a drastic change in previously established strategies of resource acquisition. We conducted a series of trials in which red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) were either deprived of food or satiated and competition was introduced via a plastic model to necessitate the abandonment of established resource acquisition strategies in favor of risk-insensitive strategies. Crayfish exhibited no difference in behavior when exposed to a singular pressure; however, an interaction between food deprivation and competition was detected and indicates that crayfish responded to food sources more quickly and with more risk-insensitive behavior when a model competitor was present. This combination of factors indicates a complex relationship between resource acquisition strategies and the pressures of acquiring food. Keywords Hunger Model Exploitation Interference
Handling Editor: Te´lesphore Sime-Ngando. C. J. Mergler A. N. Ludwig B. G. Gall (&) Department of Biology, Hanover College, 517 Ball Drive, Hanover, IN 47243, USA e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Resource acquisition is the most fundamental necessity for the survival of an individual, the intense pressure of which ultimately leads to the formation of highly evolved and specialized strategies (Baird 1991; Milinski 1982). These strategies can be employed in foraging and agonistic behaviors and are subject to the influence of multiple factors. One of the most studied interactions is the association between food deprivation and both risk-prone behavior and agonistic encounters (Adlerstein and Fehrer 1955; Barnard and Brown 1985; Bateson 2002; Hazlett et al. 1975; Stocker and Huber 2001). Previous studies have demonstrated how the survival pressure introduced by food deprivation results in more risk-insensitive and aggressive behaviors when faced with the payout of potential food. In this case, the introduced factor of food deprivation necessitates a trade-off in strategies, in which animals sacrifice risk-aversion for the sake of obtaining limited resources. One of the most common occurrences in which animals must sacrifice risk-aversion is in the face of competition. There are multiple variables that determine how organisms react when faced with competition. For example, there are extrinsic factors, such as resource availability and shelter presence, that affect the severity and type of competition that an organism will display (Bergman and Moore 2003). The severity of competition is especially heightened when the
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resource is of limited supply (Bovbjerg 1953;
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