eprintid: 10115645 rev_number: 29 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/10/11/56/45 datestamp: 2020-11-24 10:05:49 lastmod: 2021-02-10 11:15:01 status_changed: 2021-02-10 11:15:01 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Nanninga, GB creators_name: Horswill, C creators_name: Lane, SM creators_name: Manica, A creators_name: Briffa, M title: Microplastic exposure increases predictability of predator avoidance strategies in hermit crabs ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: A01 divisions: B02 divisions: C08 divisions: D09 divisions: F99 keywords: intra-individual variation, repeatability, anthropogenic contaminants, startle response, predation risk note: © 2020 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). abstract: The contamination of natural systems with plastic debris has become one of the most pressing global environmental issues. Microplastics (MPs) are of particular concern because their ubiquity and small size make them available for ingestion by a range of aquatic biota. MP exposure studies are hence proliferating rapidly but are typically limited to the analyses of population-level responses in toxicity endpoints across treatments. Potential contaminant-induced alterations in behavioural patterns, however, could manifest on numerous levels of variation: at the population-level, between individuals and within individuals. Here, we used repeated measures on startle response durations – a risk-avoidance mechanism – in European hermit crabs, Pagurus bernhardus, to measure behavioural responses to MP exposure across multiple levels of variation. We found that MP exposure led to a significant decrease of startle duration at the population-level as well as a reduction of intra-individual variation. In other words, crabs became less risk averse on average and their behaviour became more predictable with increasing MP concentrations. Collectively, our findings indicate that MP pollution might increase susceptibility to predation in hermit crabs. date: 2020-11 date_type: published publisher: Elsevier BV official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.hazl.2020.100005 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1830176 doi: 10.1016/j.hazl.2020.100005 lyricists_name: Horswill, Catharine lyricists_id: CHORS87 actors_name: Horswill, Catharine actors_id: CHORS87 actors_role: owner full_text_status: public publication: Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters volume: 1 article_number: 100005 citation: Nanninga, GB; Horswill, C; Lane, SM; Manica, A; Briffa, M; (2020) Microplastic exposure increases predictability of predator avoidance strategies in hermit crabs. Journal of Hazardous Materials Letters , 1 , Article 100005. 10.1016/j.hazl.2020.100005 <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazl.2020.100005>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10115645/1/Horswill_vor2020%20Nanninga%20Hazardous%20Materials%20Letters.pdf