Prey, predators, parasites: intraguild predation or simpler community modules in disguise?

Area of Science:

• Community ecology
• Theoretical ecology
• Food web dynamics

Background:

• Intraguild predation (IGP) combines competition and predation, fundamental ecological interactions.
• IGP is considered ubiquitous, with a well-established theoretical framework.
• Recent insights extend IGP to host-parasitoid and host-pathogen systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate that a general class of IGP models can be simplified to equivalent community structures.
• To explore the implications of indiscriminate predation in IGP models.
• To connect IGP simplifications to host-parasitoid and host-pathogen dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Mathematical modeling of IGP.
• Transformation of IGP models to simpler, equivalent community structures.
• Analysis of eco-epidemiological models and their relation to exploitative competition.

Main Results:

• A general class of IGP models simplifies to equivalent community structures under indiscriminate predation.
• Parasites can effectively transform IGP into exploitative competition or tritrophic chains.
• The simplification is illustrated using an eco-epidemiological model analogous to exploitative competition.

Conclusions:

• The simplification of IGP models offers new perspectives on food web dynamics.
• This approach can enhance understanding of interactions involving parasites.
• Transformed food webs provide a clearer view of ecological interactions, especially with parasitism.