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Predator-induced shape plasticity in D. pulex
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  • Sam Paplauskas ,
  • Oscar Morton,
  • Mollie Hunt,
  • Ashleigh Courage,
  • Stephanie Swanney,
  • Stu Dennis,
  • Dörthe Becker,
  • Stuart Auld,
  • Andrew Beckerman
Sam Paplauskas
University of Stirling

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Oscar Morton
The University of Sheffield
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Mollie Hunt
The University of Sheffield
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Ashleigh Courage
The University of Sheffield
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Stephanie Swanney
The University of Sheffield
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Stu Dennis
Eawag
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Dörthe Becker
The University of Sheffield
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Stuart Auld
University of Stirling
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Andrew Beckerman
University of Sheffield
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Abstract

All animals and plants respond to changes in the environment during their life cycle. This flexibility is known as phenotypic plasticity and allows organisms to cope with variable environments. A common source of environmental variation is predation risk, which describes the likelihood of being attacked and killed by a predator. Some species can respond to the level of predation risk by producing morphological defences against predation. A classic example is the production of pedestals and head spikes in the water flea, Daphnia pulex, which defend against predation from Chaoborus midge larvae. Previous studies of these defences have focussed on changes in pedestal size and the number of spikes along a gradient of predation risk. Although these studies have provided a model for continuous plasticity, they do not capture the whole-organism shape response to predation risk. In contrast, studies in fish and amphibians focus on shape as a complex, multi-faceted trait made up of different variables. In this study, we analyse how multiple aspects of shape change in D. pulex along a gradient of predation risk from C. flavicans. These changes are dominated by the inducible morphological defence, but there are also changes in the size and shape of the head and the body. We detected change in specific modules of the body plan and a level of integration among modules. These results are indicative of a complex, multi-faceted response to predation and provide insight into how predation risk drives variation in shape and size at the level of the whole organism.
10 Aug 2023Submitted to Ecology and Evolution
11 Aug 2023Submission Checks Completed
11 Aug 2023Assigned to Editor
16 Aug 2023Reviewer(s) Assigned
24 Oct 2023Review(s) Completed, Editorial Evaluation Pending
27 Oct 2023Editorial Decision: Revise Minor