Researchers found higher temperatures helped the mosquitofish (pictured) evade predators.
Temperature rises can drastically alter relationships between predator and prey, including the success of invasive species, new research from the University of Sydney has shown. "The research highlights how the ability of a species to adapt to climate change may be less important than how climate change affects its relationships with other species and by extension the entire ecosystem," said Professor Frank Seebacher , from the University's School of Biological Sciences. Professor Seebacher is the lead author of a study, with colleagues from the school, on how increased temperature levels influence fish behaviour, published yesterday in Proceedings of the Royal Society B . "We found the higher temperature levels climate change is predicted to bring about will reduce the number of attacks by the Australian bass on the mosquitofish," said Professor Frank Seebacher. "At the same time the escape speed of the mosquitofish increased. This means the Australian bass was much less successful in catching the mosquitofish, an invasive species that is a major part of the bass diet." At first, as the temperature in the fish's environment was raised the bass made more attacks but as the temperature increased to the range likely to be introduced by climate change (30 degrees celsius) its attack rate dropped. "Importantly we have shown that while the range of higher temperatures predicted to occur with climate change might not directly kill a species, the impact on its relationships with its prey can threaten it and bring about complex changes to the ecosystem," said Professor Seebacher.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
