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'Take-away' foraging spatially uncouples predator and prey-attack distributions.

Isabel M Smallegange1, Jaap van der Meer, Maurice W Sabelis

  • 1Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Marine Ecology and Evolution, Den Burg (Texel), The Netherlands. i.smallegange@imperial.ac.uk

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Shore crabs do not follow ideal-free distribution theory, distributing themselves evenly across mussel patches instead of proportionally to prey density. They consume prey away from patches to avoid competition, impacting predator-prey population dynamics.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • Ideal-free distribution theory predicts foragers distribute proportionally to prey density.
  • This theory assumes foragers maximize feeding rates by balancing food gains and competition.
  • It implies individuals cannot improve feeding rates by moving between patches.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the assumptions of ideal-free distribution theory in shore crabs.
  • To investigate how shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) forage on mussel patches (Mytilus edulis).
  • To understand the relationship between predator distribution and prey-attack distribution.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental setup with two adjacent mussel patches.
  • Observation of shore crab foraging behavior and distribution.
  • Analysis of prey capture and consumption patterns.

Main Results:

  • Shore crabs did not distribute themselves proportionally to mussel density.
  • Crabs aggregated attacks in more profitable areas but distributed themselves homogeneously across patches.
  • Prey (mussels) were consumed away from the patches to reduce interference.

Conclusions:

  • Shore crab distribution deviates from ideal-free distribution predictions.
  • Predator distribution can differ significantly from prey-attack distribution.
  • This discrepancy has implications for predator-prey population persistence models.