Barnacle consumption of Nucella lamellosa that either displayed behavioral or morphological fear responses or not in the presence of predators within laboratory mesocosms at Bodega Marine Lab in 2019

To examine the impacts of fear removal on the strength of trophic cascades, we measured the number of barnacles (Balanus glandula) consumed by Nucella lamellosa that either displayed either an anti-predatory response to its predator Pisaster ochraceus or ignored the predator. We tested the removal of two types of anti-predatory responses, a behavioral fear response and an inducible morphological defense, to also examine how the type of fear response can influence the strength of trophic cascades. The experiment was conducted within laboratory mesocosms at Bodega Marine Lab in 2019.