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Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates and Fishes in Stream Ecosystems

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Allometric functional response model: body masses constrain interaction strengths.

Olivera Vucic-Pestic¹, Björn C Rall, Gregor Kalinkat

¹Department of Biology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstr. 10, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany. vucic@bio.tu-darmstadt.de

The Journal of Animal Ecology

|October 23, 2009

Summary

Predator and prey body mass significantly influence functional responses, impacting food web dynamics. Understanding these relationships aids in predicting population stability and energy flow.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Predator-Prey Dynamics
Ecological Modeling

Background:

Functional responses describe predator consumption rates based on prey density.
These nonlinear interaction models are key to predicting population dynamics, food web structure, and stability.
Predator and prey body mass are known to influence ecological interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the systematic effects of predator and prey body masses on functional response parameters.
To quantify how handling time, instantaneous search coefficient, and scaling exponents change with body mass.
To explore the predictive power of body mass for ecological interaction strengths.

Main Methods:

Studied functional responses of 13 predator species (ground beetles, wolf spiders) on small and large prey (26 responses total).
Analyzed handling time, instantaneous search coefficient, and scaling exponents in relation to predator and prey body masses.
Applied power-law and other nonlinear models to describe observed relationships.

Main Results:

Handling time decreased with predator mass (exponent -0.94) and increased with prey mass (exponent 0.83).
Instantaneous search coefficients showed a hump-shaped relationship with predator-prey body-mass ratios.
Scaling exponents increased with predator-prey body-mass ratios.

Conclusions:

Predator and prey body masses can predict nonlinear interaction strengths.
Intermediate-sized predators exert stronger top-down control.
Increasing body-mass ratios enhance population and food web stability.