Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 17, 2026

A Real-Time Interactive System for Studying Confrontational Pursuit Behavior in Rodents
Published on: May 16, 2025
L-shaped prey isocline in the Gause predator-prey experiments with a prey refuge
Vlastimil Křivan1, Anupam Priyadarshi2
1Institute of Entomology, Biology Centre, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, Branišovská 31, 370 05 České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
Predator and prey isoclines are estimated from data on yeast-protist population dynamics (Gause et al., 1936). Regression analysis shows that the prey isocline is best fitted by an L-shaped function that has a vertical and a horizontal part. The predator isocline is vertical. This shape of isoclines corresponds with the Lotka-Volterra and the Rosenzweig-MacArthur predator-prey models that assume a prey refuge. These results further support the idea that a prey refuge changes the prey isocline of predator-prey models from a horizontal to an L-shaped curve. Such a shape of the prey isocline effectively bounds amplitude of predator-prey oscillations, thus promotes species coexistence.
Related Concept Videos
Predator-Prey Interactions
Optimal Foraging
Microbial Interactions: Predation
Ecological Niches
Habitat Fragmentation
Conservation of Small Populations

