Bottom-up meets top-down: leaf litter inputs influence predator-prey interactions in wetlands

While the common conceptual role of resource subsidies is one of bottom-up nutrient and energy supply, inputs can also alter the structural complexity of environments. This can further impact resource flow by providing refuge for prey and decreasing predation rates. However, the direct influence of different organic subsidies on predator-prey dynamics is rarely examined. In forested wetlands, leaf litter inputs are a dominant energy and nutrient resource and they can also increase benthic surface cover and decrease water clarity, which may provide refugia for prey and subsequently reduce predation rates. In outdoor mesocosms, we investigated how inputs of leaf litter that alter benthic surface cover and water clarity influence the mortality and growth of gray treefrog tadpoles (Hyla versicolor) in the presence of free-swimming adult newts (Notophthalmus viridiscens), which are visual predators. To manipulate surface cover, we added either oak (Quercus spp.) or red pine (Pinus resinosa) litter and crossed these treatments with three levels of red maple (Acer rubrum) litter leachate to manipulate water clarity. In contrast to our predictions, benthic surface cover had no effect on tadpole survival while darkening the water caused lower survival. In addition, individual tadpole mass was lowest in the high maple leachate treatments, suggesting an interaction between bottom-up effects of leaf litter and top-down effects of predation risk that altered mortality and growth of tadpoles. Our results indicate that realistic changes in forest tree composition, which cause concomitant changes in litter inputs to wetlands, can substantially alter community interactions.