scholarly journals Prey field switching based on preferential behaviour can induce Lévy flights

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (78) ◽  
pp. 20120489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu G. Lundy ◽  
Alan Harrison ◽  
Daniel J. Buckley ◽  
Emma S. Boston ◽  
David D. Scott ◽  
...  

Using the foraging movements of an insectivorous bat, Myotis mystacinus , we describe temporal switching of foraging behaviour in response to resource availability. These observations conform to predictions of optimized search under the Lévy flight paradigm. However, we suggest that this occurs as a result of a preference behaviour and knowledge of resource distribution. Preferential behaviour and knowledge of a familiar area generate distinct movement patterns as resource availability changes on short temporal scales. The behavioural response of predators to changes in prey fields can elicit different functional responses, which are considered to be central in the development of stable predator–prey communities. Recognizing how the foraging movements of an animal relate to environmental conditions also elucidates the evolution of optimized search and the prevalence of discrete strategies in natural systems. Applying techniques that use changes in the frequency distribution of movements facilitates exploration of the processes that underpin behavioural changes.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Klauschies ◽  
Ursula Gaedke

AbstractContemporary theory of predator coexistence through relative non-linearity in their functional responses strongly relies on the Rosenzweig-MacArthur equations (1963) in which the (autotrophic) prey exhibits logistic growth in the absence of the predators. This implies that the prey is limited by a resource which availability is independent of the predators. This assumption does not hold under nutrient limitation where both prey and predators bind resources such as nitrogen or phosphorus in their biomass. Furthermore, the prey’s resource uptake-rate is assumed to be linear and the predator-prey system is considered to be closed. All these assumptions are unrealistic for many natural systems. Here, we show that predator coexistence on a single prey is strongly hampered when the prey and predators indirectly compete for the limiting resource in a flow-through system. In contrast, a non-linear resource uptake rate of the prey slightly promotes predator coexistence. Our study highlights that predator coexistence does not only depend on differences in the curvature of their functional responses but also on the type of resource constraining the growth of their prey. This has far-reaching consequences for the relative importance of fluctuation-dependent and -independent mechanisms of species coexistence in natural systems where autotrophs experience light or nutrient limitation.


2022 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien M. J. Portalier ◽  
Gregor F. Fussmann ◽  
Michel Loreau ◽  
Mehdi Cherif

First derivations of the functional response were mechanistic, but subsequent uses of these functions tended to be phenomenological. Further understanding of the mechanisms underpinning predator-prey relationships might lead to novel insights into functional response in natural systems. Because recent consideration of the physical properties of the environment has improved our understanding of predator-prey interactions, we advocate the use of physics-based approaches for the derivation of the functional response from first principles. These physical factors affect the functional response by constraining the ability of both predators and prey to move according to their size. A physics-based derivation of the functional response should thus consider the movement of organisms in relation to their physical environment. One recent article presents a model along these criteria. As an initial validation of our claim, we use a slightly modified version of this model to derive the classical parameters of the functional response (i.e., attack rate and handling time) of aquatic organisms, as affected by body size, buoyancy, water density and viscosity. We compared the predictions to relevant data. Our model provided good fit for most parameters, but failed to predict handling time. Remarkably, this is the only parameter whose derivation did not rely on physical principles. Parameters in the model were not estimated from observational data. Hence, systematic discrepancies between predictions and real data point immediately to errors in the model. An added benefit to functional response derivation from physical principles is thus to provide easy ways to validate or falsify hypotheses about predator-prey relationships.


Parasitology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 137 (6) ◽  
pp. 1027-1038 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDY FENTON ◽  
SARAH E. PERKINS

SUMMARYPredator-prey models are often applied to the interactions between host immunity and parasite growth. A key component of these models is the immune system's functional response, the relationship between immune activity and parasite load. Typically, models assume a simple, linear functional response. However, based on the mechanistic interactions between parasites and immunity we argue that alternative forms are more likely, resulting in very different predictions, ranging from parasite exclusion to chronic infection. By extending this framework to consider multiple infections we show that combinations of parasites eliciting different functional responses greatly affect community stability. Indeed, some parasites may stabilize other species that would be unstable if infecting alone. Therefore hosts' immune systems may have adapted to tolerate certain parasites, rather than clear them and risk erratic parasite dynamics. We urge for more detailed empirical information relating immune activity to parasite load to enable better predictions of the dynamic consequences of immune-mediated interspecific interactions within parasite communities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (9) ◽  
pp. 2127-2136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanzhi Tang ◽  
Samuel M. Webb ◽  
Emily R. Estes ◽  
Colleen M. Hansel

Manganese (Mn) oxides, which are generally considered biogenic in origin within natural systems, are the only oxidants of Cr(iii) under typical environmental conditions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can-Yun Huang ◽  
Min Zhao ◽  
Hai-Feng Huo

A stage-structured three-species predator-prey model with Beddington-DeAngelis and Holling II functional response is introduced. Based on the comparison theorem, sufficient and necessary conditions which guarantee the predator and the prey species to be permanent are obtained. An example is also presented to illustrate our main results.


2019 ◽  
Vol 188 (3) ◽  
pp. 860-864 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry A Meyer ◽  
Hannah E Larsen ◽  
Nézira O Akobi ◽  
Garret Broussard

Abstract Tardigrade behavioural studies have focused on responses to abiotic environmental conditions. Predator–prey interactions have received some attention, but not how predators and prey might detect one another. Here, we investigate whether a predatory tardigrade species is attracted to, and a potential prey tardigrade avoids, areas previously occupied by the other. In our experiments, Milnesium lagniappe was the predator and Macrobiotus acadianus the prey. Petri dishes with non-nutrient agar were used as experimental arenas. In one treatment, we allowed Macrobiotus to roam over half of the agar for 20 h, while leaving the other half free of Macrobiotus. We then removed the prey and introduced the predator. In the control treatment, no prey were added. Results indicated that Milnesium individuals were significantly concentrated in the area previously occupied by Macrobiotus, whereas no such concentration was evident when Macrobiotus had not been present. A similar protocol was used to test whether Macrobiotus avoided areas previously occupied by the predator. As expected, Macrobiotus were significantly concentrated in the area never occupied by Milnesium, unlike the control treatment. These results suggest that both species can detect the other without physical contact and react accordingly. Given that the experiments were conducted in darkness, detection is probably olfactory.


Complexity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Kankan Sarkar ◽  
Subhas Khajanchi ◽  
Prakash Chandra Mali ◽  
Juan J. Nieto

In this study, we investigate a mathematical model that describes the interactive dynamics of a predator-prey system with different kinds of response function. The positivity, boundedness, and uniform persistence of the system are established. We investigate the biologically feasible singular points and their stability analysis. We perform a comparative study by considering different kinds of functional responses, which suggest that the dynamical behavior of the system remains unaltered, but the position of the bifurcation points altered. Our model system undergoes Hopf bifurcation with respect to the growth rate of the prey population, which indicates that a periodic solution occurs around a fixed point. Also, we observed that our predator-prey system experiences transcritical bifurcation for the prey population growth rate. By using normal form theory and center manifold theorem, we investigate the direction and stability of Hopf bifurcation. The biological implications of the analytical and numerical findings are also discussed in this study.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kiva L. Oken ◽  
André E Punt ◽  
Daniel S. Holland

Natural resources often exhibit large interannual fluctuations in productivity driven by shifting environmental conditions, and this translates to high variability in the revenue resource users can earn. However, users can dampen this variability by harvesting a portfolio of resources. In the context of fisheries, this means targeting multiple populations, though the ability to actually build diverse fishing portfolios is often constrained by the costs and availability of fishing permits. These constraints are generally intended to prevent overcapitalization of the fleet and ensure populations are fished sustainably. As linked human-natural systems, both ecological and fishing dynamics influence the specific advantages and disadvantages of increasing the diversity of fishing portfolios. Specifically, a portfolio of synchronous populations with similar responses to environmental drivers should reduce revenue variability less than a portfolio of asynchronous populations with opposite responses. We built a bioeconomic model characterized by the Dungeness crab (Metacarcinus magister), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), and groundfish fisheries in the California Current, and used it to explore the influence of population synchrony and permit access on revenue patterns. As expected, synchronous populations reduced revenue variability less than asynchronous populations, but only for portfolios including crab and salmon. Synchrony with longer-lived groundfish populations was not important because environmentally-driven changes in groundfish early life survival were mediated by growth and natural mortality over the full population age structure, and overall biomass was relatively stable across years. Thus, building a portfolio of diverse life histories can buffer against the impacts of extremely poor environmental conditions over short time scales, though not for long-term declines. Increasing access to all permits generally led to increased revenue stability and decreased inequality of the fleet, but also resulted in less revenue earned by an individual from a given portfolio because more vessels shared the available biomass. This means managers are faced with a tradeoff between the average revenue individuals earn and the risk those individuals accept. These results illustrate the importance of considering connections between social and ecological dynamics when evaluating management options that constrain or facilitate fishers’ ability to diversify their fishing.


2014 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 95-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gurova ◽  
Clive Bonsall

 This paper discusses why large areas of the central and northern Balkans lack evidence of Mesolithic settlement and what implications this holds for future research into the Neolithization of the region. A marked shift in site distribution patterns between Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic is interpreted as a response to changing environmental conditions and resource availability. It is suggested that some important questions of the pattern, processes and timing of the transition to farming across the Balkan Peninsula may only be answered through new archaeological surveys of the Lower Danube valley and exploration of submerged landscapes along the Black Sea, Aegean and Adriatic coasts.


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