|
Vol. 52, 2013
Behaviour-dependent predation risk in swimming zooplankters
Marco
Uttieri1*, Daniela Cianelli1,2 and Enrico
Zambianchi1
1Department
of Sciences and Technologies, University of Naples ‘Parthenope’, Centro
Direzionale di Napoli - Isola C4, Naples 80143, Italy
2ISPRA - Institute for Environmental Research and
Protection, Via Brancati 60, Rome 00166, Italy
Abstract
Background: The survival of
zooplanktonic organisms is determined by their capability of moving in
a fluid environment, trading off between the necessities of finding
prey and avoiding predators. In previous numerical experiments, we
concentrated on the relationship between natatorial modality and
encounter success of a virtual copepod swimming in the presence of prey
distributed either in patches or uniformly in the environment.
Results: In this contribution, we extend this
simulation framework to the encounter with chaetognaths, the primary
copepod predators, considering different motion rules as a proxy of
different swimming strategies and looking at the influence of the
concentration of predators and the size of their detection radius in
posing a risk on copepod survival. The outcomes of our simulations
indicate that more convoluted trajectories are more vulnerable to
predator encounter while straighter motions reduce predation risk.
Conclusions: Our results are then
complemented with those obtained in our previous studies to perform a
general cost-benefit analysis of zooplankton motion.
Key words: Swimming; Predator–prey
interactions; Zooplankton; Chaetognaths; Individual-based model.
*Correspondence: E-mail: marco.uttieri@uniparthenope.it
|
