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Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.
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Evolutionary psychology explores the origins of human behavior and mental processes by framing them within the context of natural selection, a theory famously propounded by Charles Darwin. This field asserts that many behaviors common across human societies — ranging from instinctive fear reactions to complex social interactions — arose as evolutionary adaptations. These adaptations enhanced the survival and reproductive success of our ancestors, thereby becoming embedded in the...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2025

A Real-Time Interactive System for Studying Confrontational Pursuit Behavior in Rodents
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Top-down effects of intraspeciflic predator behavioral variation.

James L L Lichtenstein1,2, Brendan L McEwen3, Skylar D Primavera4

  • 1Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, 06825, USA. jlllichtenstein@gmail.com.

Oecologia
|May 24, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Predator trait variation impacts prey populations, especially in complex habitats. This variation

Keywords:
Habitat complexityIndividual trait variationIntraspecific niche variationMantoideaSpecies interactionsTemperament

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Behavioral Ecology
  • Community Ecology

Background:

  • Among-individual variation in predator traits is common but rarely studied in population dynamics.
  • The spatial variation in predator trait effects on prey populations remains largely unexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how predator among-individual variation in functional traits influences prey populations and communities.
  • To determine the extent to which these effects vary spatially across different habitat complexities.

Main Methods:

  • Experimental manipulation of Chinese mantis (Tenodera sinensis) density and behavioral trait variability.
  • Assessment of impacts on prey (arthropods > 4 mm) and plant biomass in old fields with varying habitat complexity.

Main Results:

  • Predator behavioral variability affected prey biomass only in structurally complex habitats, with effects dependent on mantis density.
  • Behaviorally variable mantis groups decreased prey biomass by 40.3% in high-complexity, high-density plots.
  • Behavioral variability and low habitat complexity increased ant biomass by 881%, altering prey community composition.

Conclusions:

  • Among-individual trait variation significantly shapes species-rich prey communities.
  • The effects of predator trait variation are contingent upon predator density and habitat complexity.
  • Incorporating ecological diversity, including trait variation, reveals previously unrecognized food web dynamics.