Predator olfactory cues generate a foraging–predation trade-off through prey apprehension

Abstract

Most animals are faced with the challenge of securing food under the risk of predation. This frequently generates a trade-off whereby animals respond to predator cues with reduced movement to avoid predation at the direct cost of reduced foraging success. However, predators may also cause prey to be apprehensive in their foraging activities, which would generate an indirect ‘apprehension cost’. Apprehension arises when a forager redirects attention from foraging tasks to predatordetection and incurs a cost from such multi-tasking, because the forager ends up making more mistakes in its foraging tasks as a result.