Predator-prey interactions across hunting mode, spatial domain size, and habitat complexities

Area of Science:

• Community ecology
• Behavioral ecology
• Ecological modeling

Background:

• Predator-prey interactions are crucial in community ecology.
• The relative importance of consumptive effects versus nonconsumptive effects (NCEs) remains unclear.
• Theoretical frameworks suggest habitat complexity, predator hunting mode, and spatial domains influence these effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how predator hunting mode and spatial domain size interact to determine the dominance of consumptive or NCEs.
• To analyze how NCEs influence prey shifts in time, space, and habitat use.
• To understand the mechanisms driving the predominance of consumptive or NCEs.

Main Methods:

• Agent-based models were developed using NetLogo.
• Simulations explored three predator hunting modes: sit-and-wait, sit-and-pursue, and active.
• Simulations varied spatial domain sizes for both predators and prey.

Main Results:

• Consumptive effects were dominant only for active predators with fully overlapping spatial domains with prey.
• Consumptive effects also dominated for sit-and-wait and sit-and-pursue predators when both predator and prey had large spatial domains.
• Prey were most likely to survive by shifting their time and, more frequently, their habitat.

Conclusions:

• Predator hunting mode and spatial dynamics are key determinants of consumptive versus nonconsumptive effects.
• Prey behavioral plasticity, particularly habitat shifting, is a critical survival strategy.
• This research clarifies the ecological conditions favoring different predator-prey interaction outcomes.