Backswimmers, as their name suggest, swim upside down, but can also fly when under stress. (Photo credit: Adrian Paine, via flickr)
Many animals seek new habitat if they are too crowded or if there are too many predators, but new research suggests that the effect of these two factors can’t easily be separated.
Researchers filled artificial pools with backswimmers, insects that normally swim but that can fly to a new pool if stressed. Introducing a predator to the pool caused many of the bugs to take off, but only when the bugs were at medium population density, not at high or low density.
If the effects of overcrowding and predation are indeed interrelated, it could impact the design of conservation areas.
Original research paper published in the journal Biology Letters on June 10, 2014.
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