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Predator Cues Induce Transgenerational Behavioral Plasticity in the Wolf Spider Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae: Lycosidae)

Sidoti, Salvatore Anthony
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1190-3526
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1671025546311887

Abstract Details

2022, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology.
Many animals live in a heterogeneous landscape of predation, with consequences that include changes in behavior, morphology, and physiology. While we understand much about how predation directly impacts prey phenotypes, our understanding of its indirect effects on the phenotypic attributes of prey are quickly becoming a subject of intense study. It has been shown that merely the risk of predation could alter the behavioral phenotype of prey, which in turn, could influence their reproductive fitness. Thus, the behavioral phenotypes in the parental generation are a potential target for natural selection. Because such traits are often heritable, predation risk could indirectly shape the phenotype of subsequent generations of prey through genetic change. Prior work has focused on the ability of organisms to evolve or alter the expression of traits (phenotypic plasticity) in response to environmental changes. Yet, there is now copious evidence that demonstrates how the environment can induce non-genetic phenotypic changes that span multiple generations. Such ‘transgenerational plasticity’ occurs when the environment experienced by parents alters the phenotypes of subsequent generations. Transgenerational responses have been documented in many organisms for a variety of environmental factors and are postulated to have far-reaching consequences for population dynamics, community interactions and the rate and direction of evolutionary change. Nonetheless, despite widespread attention on the existence of transgenerational plasticity, our understanding of how behavior can be altered transgenerationally in responses to predation risk in the parental generation remains limited. My research has sought to test the hypothesis that predation risk in the maternal environment can drive transgenerational behavioral plasticity through maternal effects. I used an intraguild predator-prey system consisting of two wolf spiders. Tigrosa helluo served as the predator, with Schizocosa ocreata being the prey species. I conducted three experiments in the laboratory where each focused on a unique biological question, but all were similar in that I created two treatments: one with perceived predation risk and one without. After mating, I allowed mature S. ocreata females to reside within a chamber that either contained the cues of T. helluo (e.g., excreta containing remnants of S. ocreata; silk draglines), or a container free of predator cues. I then monitored the behaviors of first-generation (F1) offspring after they reached maturity. The focus of Chapter 2 was aggression. I found heightened aggression in the offspring and sex-specific effects with female offspring being more aggressive than males (Chapter 2). In Chapter 3, I investigated neophobia, or an aversion towards novel stimuli. I found that the offspring (especially females) of mothers that were exposed to predator cues showed increased freeze durations, reduced exploration behavior, and fewer forays into unexplored regions of the test arena relative to offspring of mothers not exposed to predator cues (Chapter 3). The focus of Chapter 4 was to investigate boldness to aversive stimuli. I observed reduced boldness in the predator treatment group irrespective of sex and differences in the repeatability of these behaviors between males and females (Chapter 4). We live at a time in which humans routinely stress the natural world. The environmental changes associated with human activities can potentially affect all aspects of a population’s habitat, which include changes in predation risk. Faced with such widespread and rapid changes on our planet, a more complete understanding of the drivers of maternal effects may offer a means for us to predict the consequences of transgenerational phenotypic variation and their collective contributions to species survival.
Susan Gershman (Advisor)
Stuart Ludsin (Committee Co-Chair)
Ian Hamilton (Committee Member)
146 p.
Behavioral Sciences; Biology; Ecology
maternal effects; transgenerational plasticity; epigenetic; predation; prey; aggression; neophobia; boldness; wolf spider; Lycosidae

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Sidoti, S. A. (2022). Predator Cues Induce Transgenerational Behavioral Plasticity in the Wolf Spider Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae: Lycosidae) [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1671025546311887

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sidoti, Salvatore. Predator Cues Induce Transgenerational Behavioral Plasticity in the Wolf Spider Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae: Lycosidae). 2022. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1671025546311887.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sidoti, Salvatore. "Predator Cues Induce Transgenerational Behavioral Plasticity in the Wolf Spider Schizocosa ocreata (Araneae: Lycosidae)." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1671025546311887

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1671025546311887
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.