Research into the fundamental underlying processes that govern how ecosystems function is crucial to understanding the natural world.
Species do not exist in isolation, but embedded in a complex community of organisms that trophically and competitively interact with each other. Interspecific differences in the strength of these interactions can drive the distribution of species in a landscape, and I recently showed how the evolved ability to express anti-predator defences can determine the spatial distribution of competing species (Hammill et al 2015a). The strength of the interactions between predators and prey can also be impacted by anthropogenic changes to ecosystems, and my work has recently demonstrated how ocean acidification increases the predation pressure exerted by jellyfish, altering plankton communities (Hammill et al 2018).
Crucially, more than 50% of the effects of predators on communities and ecosystem function is due to the effects of fear.
I have recently shown that the threat of predation alone can be sufficient to alter the structure of ecological communities (Forbes & Hammill 2013), and the ecosystem functions they perform (Hammill et al 2015b). This work demonstrated at the community level that the fear of predation alone can have dramatic effects on prey species (Hammill et al. 2008, Hammill et al. 2010).
Hammill, E., Johnson, E., Atwood, T. B., Harianto, J., Hinchliffe, C., Calosi, P., and Byrne, B. 2018. Ocean acidification alters zooplankton communities and increases top‐down pressure of a cubozoan predator. Global Change Biology 24 (1): e128-e138
Hammill, E., Atwood, T. B., Corvalan, P., Srivastava, D. S., 2015a. Behavioural responses to predation may explain shifts in community structure. Freshwater Biology 60 (1): 125-125
Hammill, E., Atwood, T. B., and Srivastava, D. S. 2015. Predation threat alters composition and functioning of bromeliad ecosystems. Ecosystems 18: 857-866
Atwood, T. B., E. Hammill, H. Grieg, P. Kratina, J. B. Shurin, D. S. Srivastava, and J. S. Richardson. 2013. Predator-induced reduction of freshwater carbon dioxide emmisions. Nature Geoscience 6: 191-194.
Forbes, C., and E. Hammill. 2013. Fear in the dark? Community-level effects of non-lethal predators change with light regime. Oikos 122 (12): 1649-1661
Hammill, E., O. L. Petchey, and B. R. Anholt. 2010. Predator functional response changed by induced defenses in prey. The American Naturalist 176: 723-731.
Hammill, E., A. Rogers, and A. P. Beckerman. 2008. Costs, benefits and the evolution of inducible defences: a case study with Daphnia pulex. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21: 705-715.
Crucially, more than 50% of the effects of predators on communities and ecosystem function is due to the effects of fear.
I have recently shown that the threat of predation alone can be sufficient to alter the structure of ecological communities (Forbes & Hammill 2013), and the ecosystem functions they perform (Hammill et al 2015b). This work demonstrated at the community level that the fear of predation alone can have dramatic effects on prey species (Hammill et al. 2008, Hammill et al. 2010).
Hammill, E., Johnson, E., Atwood, T. B., Harianto, J., Hinchliffe, C., Calosi, P., and Byrne, B. 2018. Ocean acidification alters zooplankton communities and increases top‐down pressure of a cubozoan predator. Global Change Biology 24 (1): e128-e138
Hammill, E., Atwood, T. B., Corvalan, P., Srivastava, D. S., 2015a. Behavioural responses to predation may explain shifts in community structure. Freshwater Biology 60 (1): 125-125
Hammill, E., Atwood, T. B., and Srivastava, D. S. 2015. Predation threat alters composition and functioning of bromeliad ecosystems. Ecosystems 18: 857-866
Atwood, T. B., E. Hammill, H. Grieg, P. Kratina, J. B. Shurin, D. S. Srivastava, and J. S. Richardson. 2013. Predator-induced reduction of freshwater carbon dioxide emmisions. Nature Geoscience 6: 191-194.
Forbes, C., and E. Hammill. 2013. Fear in the dark? Community-level effects of non-lethal predators change with light regime. Oikos 122 (12): 1649-1661
Hammill, E., O. L. Petchey, and B. R. Anholt. 2010. Predator functional response changed by induced defenses in prey. The American Naturalist 176: 723-731.
Hammill, E., A. Rogers, and A. P. Beckerman. 2008. Costs, benefits and the evolution of inducible defences: a case study with Daphnia pulex. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 21: 705-715.