Sublethal effects and predator-prey interactions: implications for ecological risk assessment.

Ecological risk assessments tend to focus on contaminant effects on single species in isolation. However, additional effects from interactions between species (e.g., predator-prey interactions) may also occur in natural systems. The present study investigated the consequences of sublethal contaminant effects in prey on predator-prey interactions, particularly the interaction between prey behavioral changes and predation by predators with different hunting strategies. Ambush (Ischnura elegans Vander Linden [Insecta, Odonata]) and active (Notonecta glauca Linnaeus [Insecta, Heteroptera]) predator species were used in conjunction with three prey species (Asellus aquaticus Linnaeus [Crustacea, Isopoda], Cloion dipterum Linnaeus [Insecta, Ephemeroptera], and Chironomus riparius Meigen [Insecta, Diptera]). Immobilized prey demonstrated the importance of prey behavior for determining predation rates for both single- and multiple-prey species. Chironomus riparius was less responsive following exposure to cadmium, becoming more vulnerableto attack by the active but not the ambush predator. Some evidence was also observed for reduced general activity in C. dipterum following cadmium exposure. Sublethal exposure of prey did not affect the prey choice of active predators, possibly because of prey behavioral changes being insufficient to influence their relative availabilities. However, cadmium exposure of prey did alter their susceptibility to ambush predators. There was a reduced proportion of C. dipterum and an increased proportion of A. aquaticus in the diet of ambush predators, possibly because of reduced activity in C. dipterum affecting their relative encounter rates with predators. Sublethal exposures can therefore result in reduced prey survival that would not be predicted by single-species toxicity tests.