The scent of danger – local adaptation of predator-mediated defences and information transfer disruption in multiply-stressed riverine ecosystems (A10)

• Subject Area: Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals and Ecosystems, Organismic Interactions
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 426547801

Predation is a relevant selective force during degradation and recovery of freshwater communities. Our results from Phase I show that many species from the Boye river react to chemical cues released by fish predators. However, single and multiple stressors significantly suppressed these inducible defences. In Phase II, we aim to elucidate the mechanisms underlying predator perception and how this is affected by multiple stressors using a transcriptomic approach. We will use small indoor mesocosms and beaker-sized microcosms equipped with a tracking system to study anti-predator-responses and modifying stressors in detail with populations of two focal taxa, Gammarus fossarum and the Ephemeropteran Baetis rhodani.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1439: Multilevel response to stressor increase and release in stream ecosystems (RESIST)
• Applicant Institution: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Ralph Tollrian; Dr. Linda Carolin Weiss