Data from: Consistent temperature dependence of functional response parameters and their use in predicting population abundance

1. Global warming is one of the greatest threats to the persistence of
populations: increased metabolic demands should strengthen pairwise
species interactions, which could destabilise food webs at the higher
organisational levels. Quantifying the temperature dependence of
consumer-resource interactions is thus essential for predicting ecological
responses to warming. 2. We explored feeding interactions between
different predator-prey pairs in temperature-controlled chambers and in a
system of naturally-heated streams. We found consistent temperature
dependence of attack rates across experimental settings, though the
magnitude and activation energy of attack rate was specific to each
predator, which varied in mobility and foraging mode. 3. We used these
parameters along with metabolic rate measurements to estimate energetic
efficiency and population abundance with warming. Energetic efficiency
accurately estimated field abundance of a mobile predator that struggled
to meet its metabolic demands, but was a poor predictor for a sedentary
predator that operated well below its energetic limits. Temperature
effects on population abundance may thus be strongly dependent on whether
organisms are regulated by their own energy intake or interspecific
interactions. 4. Given the widespread use of functional response
parameters in ecological modelling, reconciling outcomes from laboratory
and field studies increases the confidence and precision with which we can
predict warming impacts on natural systems.