Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 3, 2026

Continuous Hydrologic and Water Quality Monitoring of Vernal Ponds
Published on: November 13, 2017
Both local presence and regional distribution of predator cues modulate prey colonisation in pond landscapes
Hendrik Trekels1, Bram Vanschoenwinkel1
1Community Ecology Lab, Department of Biology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Abstract:
Recent work on habitat selection has shown that the perceived quality of habitat patches may depend on the quality of adjacent patches. However, it is still unclear how local habitat selection cues can alter distribution patterns in metacommunities at a larger (regional) scale. We studied mosquito oviposition in pond landscapes that differed in the proportion of bad patches with fish predation risk. Our experiment provided conclusive evidence for two local and two regional types of habitat selection. Good patches near bad patches were avoided (local risk contagion) while more distant good patches experienced increased oviposition (regional compression). Oviposition in bad patches increased when located next to good patches (reward contagion) or when there were no good patches regionally present (regional compromise). This complex colonisation behaviour involving compromises at different spatial scales forces experimenters to reconsider the independence of spatial replicates and challenges available theories to predict species distribution patterns.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Predator-Prey Interactions
Local Anesthetics: Clinical Application as Intravenous Regional Anesthesia
One of the advantages of...
Non-Verbal Cues
The Eukaryotic Promoter Region
IR Frequency Region: Fingerprint Region
Drug Distribution: Volume of Distribution

