DOI: 10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18r5
title: Rapid evolution of consumptive and non-consumptive predator effects on prey population densities, bioenergetics and stoichiometry

description: Predators can strongly influence prey populations not only through
 consumptive effects (CE) but also through non-consumptive effects (NCE)
 imposed by predation risk. Yet, the impact of NCE on bioenergetic and
 stoichiometric body contents of prey, traits that are shaping life
 histories, population and food web dynamics, is largely unknown. Moreover,
 the degree to which NCE can evolve and can drive evolution in prey
 populations is rarely studied. A 6-week outdoor mesocosm experiment with
 Caged-Fish (NCE) and Free-Ranging-Fish (CE and NCE) treatments was
 conducted to quantify and compare the effects of CE and NCE on population
 densities, bioenergetic and stoichiometric body contents of Daphnia magna,
 a keystone species in freshwater ecosystems. We tested for evolution of CE
 and NCE by using experimental populations consisting of D. magna clones
 from two periods of a resurrected natural pond population: a pre-fish
 period without fish and a high-fish period with high predation
 pressure.  Both Caged-Fish and Free-Ranging-Fish treatments
 decreased the body size and population densities, especially in Daphnia
 from the high-fish period. Only the Free-Ranging-Fish treatment affected
 bioenergetic variables, while both the Caged-Fish and Free-Ranging-Fish
 treatments shaped body stoichiometry. The effects of CE and NCE were
 different between both periods indicating their rapid evolution in the
 natural resurrected population. Both the Caged-Fish and Free-Ranging-Fish
 treatments changed the clonal frequencies of the experimental Daphnia
 populations of the pre-fish as well as the high-fish period, indicating
 that not only CE but also NCE induced clonal sorting, hence rapid
 evolution during the mesocosm experiment in both periods. Our results
 demonstrate that CE as well as NCE have the potential to change not only
 the body size and population density but also the bioenergetic and
 stoichiometric characteristics of prey populations. Moreover, we show that
 these responses not only evolved in the studied resurrected population,
 but that CE and NCE also caused differential rapid evolution in a time
 frame of 6 weeks (ca. 4-6 generations). As NCE can evolve as well as can
 drive evolution, they may play an important role in shaping
 eco-evolutionary dynamics in predator-prey interactions.
description: A 6-week outdoor mesocosm experiment with Caged-Fish (NCE) and
 Free-Ranging-Fish (CE and NCE) treatments was conducted to quantify and
 compare the effects of CE and NCE on population densities, bioenergetic
 and stoichiometric body contents of <em>Daphnia magna</em>, a
 keystone species in freshwater ecosystems.
description: ## ## Title of Dataset Rapid evolution of consumptive and non-consumptive
 predator effects on prey population densities, bioenergetics and
 stoichiometry
 [https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18r5](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.qbzkh18r5) ## ## A brief summary of dataset contents, contextualized in experimental procedures and results A 6-week outdoor mesocosm experiment with Caged-Fish (NCE) and Free-Ranging-Fish (CE and NCE) treatments was conducted to quantify and compare the effects of CE and NCE on population densities, bioenergetic and stoichiometric body contents of *Daphnia magna*. The experimental procedures include the outdoor mesocosm culturing period under the three different treatments for 6 weeks, sampling and traits measurements. The results are: Both Caged-Fish and Free-Ranging-Fish treatments decreased the body size and population densities, especially in *Daphnia* from the high-fish period. Only the Free-Ranging-Fish treatment affected bioenergetic variables, while both the Caged-Fish and Free-Ranging-Fish treatments shaped body stoichiometry. The effects of CE and NCE were different between both periods indicating their rapid evolution in the natural resurrected population. Both the Caged-Fish and Free-Ranging-Fish treatments changed the clonal frequencies of the experimental Daphnia populations of the pre-fish as well as the high-fish period, indicating that not only CE but also NCE induced clonal sorting, hence rapid evolution during the mesocosm experiment in both periods. ## ## Description of the data and file structure This is the raw data of a mesocosm experiment aiming to test the consumptive and non-consumptive effects on two experimental populations of Daphnia magna from two contrasting periods (pre-fish and high-fish) that experienced different fish predation pressure. This dataset includes different treatments and the raw data of all the measured traits of Daphnia. There were three treatments: no-fish control, caged-fish treatment and free-ranging fish treatment. The measured raw data includes information about the size and density, body stoichiometry, energy budget and the clonal composition of these two experimental populations. Each with three replicates. 1\) Densities were expressed as number of individuals per liter. The body sizes were measured from the eyesite to the end of the body but except the spine length. Adult body size and average body size were measured on a random subset of 10 adults or of 10 random individuals (including juveniles), respectively, from each sample. 2\) body stoichiometry were measured as the the body C%, N% and P%, and their ratios C:N, C:P and N:P. 3\) for energy budget, we quantified the available energy reserves (Ea), the energy consumption (Ec) and integrated these to determine the cellular energy allocation (CEA) that was calculated as Ea – Ec. 4\) the clonal compositions were for each experimental mesocosm population at the end of the experiment by genotyping 24 randomly chosen individuals from each mesocosm. ## ## Sharing/Access information Links to other publicly accessible locations of the data: All data was also deposited in Figshare (DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.22324972). ## ## Code/Software This dataset has no code.