Even though it seems unlikely that predation risk alone would increase prey mortality, predator cues decreased prey survival by 5% in aquatic systems (3% in terrestrial systems).
Assuming the same is true for California least terns, the clutch size and productivity declines described here may have resulted from decreasing prey availability throughout the California Current.
Although indices of prey fitness such as growth and fecundity were less strongly affected, predator cues decreased prey growth and fecundity by an average of 8% and 10% in aquatic systems (9% and 23% in terrestrial systems).
Further, the removal of a male seems to have the advantage of decreasing prey off-take, but does not fundamentally shift ranging behaviour, even in the presence of a heterogeneous social influence.
Finally, kleptoparasitism clearly contributed to a reduction of coral feeding by decreasing prey retention rates of the coral host (also see next section).
6 to 10 were kept as control to rule out the possibility of decreasing prey density by the activity of Zooplanktons like copepods.
Both male and female N. californicus accelerated development (Figs 2C, 3C) and reached adulthood at smaller size with decreasing prey densities (Figs 2D, 3D).
By contrast, in all three species, the sexual size dimorphism index decreased with decreasing prey densities, indicating that male body size was more canalized than female body size (Fig. 4B, D, F).
Pesticide-induced declines in populations as a result of decreased prey availability and increased susceptibility to predators (as a result of decreased size and the negation or reversal of the relationship between time to metamorphosis and size at metamorphosis) may be difficult to discern in the wild.
However, as the predator-prey distance (D) decreases, the prey must adopt a different trajectory or inevitably be caught.
