![]() ![]() Many studies to estimating interaction strengths have done so by quantifying consumer consumption rates on a given prey (Wootton & Emmerson, 2005). The strength of consumer–resource interactions plays a fundamental role in shaping the stability of food webs (Pimm, 1979, 1984 Rooney & McCann, 2012). Our findings show that increases in temperature intensify predator killing rates, prey consumption, and lipid intake, but the responses to temperature vary between species, which may be a result of species‐specific differences in their hunting behavior and sensitivity to temperature.Ĭonsumer–resource interactions are central to the structure and function of ecological communities (Paine, 1980 Tilman, 1986). individuals increased prey mass consumption when transplanted from the high to the low warm elevation. spiders to low‐ or high‐elevation sites did not affect their prey mass or lipid consumption rate, whereas Leucauge sp. The field reciprocal transplant experiment showed no consistent predator responses to changes in temperature along the elevational gradient. We found that killing rates of wolf spiders increased with warmer temperatures but were not significantly affected by prey macronutrient content, although spiders consumed significantly more lipids from lipid‐rich prey. and Cyclosa sp.) present along the elevation gradient. We used a field reciprocal transplant experiment between low (420 masl 26☌) and high (2,100 masl 15☌) elevations in the Ecuadorian Andes, using wild populations of two common orb‐weaver spider species ( Leucauge sp. Additionally, we investigate prey mass and lipid consumption by spiders under contrasting temperatures, along an elevation gradient. Ectothermic predators, wolf spiders ( Pardosa sp.), in the lab experiment, were exposed to increased temperatures and different prey macronutrient content (high lipid/low protein and low lipid/high protein) to assess changes in their killing rates and nutritional demands. Here, we investigate how predator killing rates, prey mass consumption, and macronutrient intake respond to increased temperatures using a laboratory and a field reciprocal transplant experiment. Previous studies have shown temperature‐driven shifts in herbivore consumption rates and resource preference, but these effects remain poorly understood for predatory arthropods. Temperature dependency of consumer–resource interactions is fundamentally important for understanding and predicting the responses of food webs to climate change.
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