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How optimally foraging predators promote prey coexistence in a variable environment.

Simon Maccracken Stump1, Peter Chesson1

  • 1University of Arizona, United States.

Theoretical Population Biology
|December 22, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Optimal foraging predators can promote the coexistence of multiple prey species by creating a competition-predation trade-off. This effect is robust to environmental variation, aiding biodiversity.

Keywords:
Annual plant modelApparent competitionCoexistenceOptimal foraging theoryStorage effectType II functional response

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Theoretical Ecology

Background:

  • Optimal foraging theory predicts predator behavior but its impact on prey coexistence is unclear.
  • Understanding predator effects on diverse communities with multiple competing prey species is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how optimal foraging by predators influences the coexistence of competing prey species.
  • To assess the role of environmental variation and adaptive diet choice in predator-prey dynamics.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized an annual plant model to simulate predator foraging behavior.
  • Incorporated Charnov's model of adaptive diet choice for seed predators.
  • Examined scenarios with and without annual variation in seed germination rates.

Main Results:

  • Optimal foraging predators can facilitate the coexistence of multiple prey species.
  • Predator effects on coexistence are largely unaffected by environmental variation.
  • Predators create a competition-predation trade-off, equalizing prey fitness differences.

Conclusions:

  • Optimal foraging can be a significant factor in promoting species diversity by reducing fitness inequalities.
  • Predation can generate a negative storage effect, potentially hindering coexistence, but this is minor with prey differentiation.
  • Predator-mediated coexistence complements other mechanisms like the storage effect.