PROJECT SUMMARY
Predation plays a major role in community ecology. Avoiding predators has obvious benefits, but routine avoidance of less threatening predators can reduce the time for beneficial activities, such as foraging. A prey individual may reduce unnecessary avoidance by responding only to the most threatening predatory individuals. Chemical cues have unique properties that permit this advanced risk assessment. Eastern garter snakes and red-backed salamanders have central roles in the woodland communities of northeastern U.S. Chemical cues from garter snakes permit red-backed salamanders to selectively avoid snakes whose diets represent significant threat. The proposed research uses behavioral and biochemical assays to: (1) characterize the chemical mechanism used by salamanders to decipher risk based on predator's diet, and (2) isolate and describe the active chemical components of the cue. The focus on individual variation in chemical emissions from predators and on how prey detect, interpret and possibly manipulate these emissions can lead to new, chemosensory-based models of predator-prey interactions. Knowledge of these interactions in northeastern woodlands may also lead to predictions on how chemical pollution may impact the ecology of terrestrial communities.
