Show simple item record

dc.contributor.authorBrewer, Reid
dc.date.accessioned2015-02-01T01:32:25Z
dc.date.available2015-02-01T01:32:25Z
dc.date.issued2003-08
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11122/4895
dc.descriptionThesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2014en_US
dc.description.abstractChemical cues released by damaged or dead organisms can affect how and where benthic scavengers feed, whether damage or mortality is natural or fishery-related. These cues may also cause predators to act as facultative scavengers. Experiments were performed to determine the role that the seastar Pycnopodia helianthoides plays in the presence of scavengable prey. The results of these experiments suggest that P. helianthoides preferentially scavenge in lieu of its normal predatory role. When given a choice, P. helianthoides choose damaged or decaying food over live prey even when live prey is encountered en route to the damaged animal. The densities and activities of P. helianthoides were compared between areas where food was continually introduced and areas where food was not introduced. Adding scavengable food to areas with P. helianthoides caused a spatial redistribution of the seastar population, a change in the foraging dynamics of the seastars, and in some cases, a change in the densities of the prey that P. helianthoides normally consume. The effects of introducing food appeared to result in a change in the role that P. helianthoides plays in the benthic community. This change in modes could have significant effects on the equilibrium of the benthic community.en_US
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.titleChemosensory responses and foraging behavior of Pycnopodia helianthoides: predator or scavenger?en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.degreemsen_US
dc.identifier.departmentGraduate Program in Marine Sciences and Limnologyen_US
dc.contributor.chairNorcross, Brenda
dc.contributor.committeeHighsmith, Raymond
dc.contributor.committeeIken, Katrin
refterms.dateFOA2020-03-05T09:11:51Z


Files in this item

Thumbnail
Name:
Brewer.Reid.2003.pdf
Size:
3.746Mb
Format:
PDF

This item appears in the following Collection(s)

Show simple item record