The trade-off between foraging activity and predation risk for Rana temporaria in different food environments

Abstract

We evaluated the trade-off between foraging activity and predation risk for larvae of an anuran species presented with different types of food resources. In the laboratory we examined the effects of benthic and phytoplankton resources and the two types combined on the activity and mortality of larvae of the common frog, Rana temporaria, exposed to predatory larva, Dytiscus marginalis. Predation mortality of tadpoles increased with the duration of the experiment and was highest in the presence of the phytoplankton resource alone. This was explained by a decrease in prey activity in the benthic- and combined-resource treatments when the predator was present, whereas in the phytoplankton treatment, the activity of the tadpoles were similar in the presence or absence of the predator. In the presence of the predator, prey mainly used the bottom of the aquarium in the benthic- and combined-resource treatments. In contrast, in the phytoplankton treatment they used the water column more than in the other treatments. In the presence of the predator, the prey had a lower consumption rate in the phytoplankton treatment than in the other treatments. Predator activity did not change among treatments. The results suggest that the trade-off between foraging activity and predation mortality for anuran larvae is strongly affected by the types of food resources present in the environment.