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Related Concept Videos

Predator-Prey Interactions

Predator-Prey Interactions

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.

Symbiosis

Symbiosis

Symbiotic relationships are long-term, close interactions between individuals of different species that affect the distribution and abundance of those species. When a relationship is beneficial to both species, this is called mutualism. When the relationship is beneficial to one species but neither beneficial nor harmful to the other species, this is called commensalism. When one organism is harmed to benefit another, the relationship is known as parasitism. These types of relationships often...

Competition

Competition

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.

Trophic Efficiency

Trophic Efficiency

Trophic level transfer efficiency (TLTE) is a measure of the total energy transfer from one trophic level to the next. Due to extensive energy loss as metabolic heat, an average of only 10% of the original energy obtained is passed on to the next level. This pattern of energy loss severely limits the possible number of trophic levels in a food chain.

Ecological Niches

Ecological Niches

All organisms have a position within an ecosystem. The complete set of living and nonliving factors—including food resources, climate, and terrain—that define the position of a given organism are collectively referred to as the organism’s ecological niche.

Frequency-dependent Selection

Frequency-dependent Selection

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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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 1, 2025

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients

Probing the Limits of Egg Recognition Using Egg Rejection Experiments Along Phenotypic Gradients

Published on: August 22, 2018

Parasitoid avoidance of intraguild predation drives enemy complementarity in a multi-trophic ecological network.

Andrew B Hennessy¹, Riley M Anderson¹, Nora Mitchell²

¹Department of Biology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, USA.

|January 22, 2025

Summary

Predator diversity impacts consumption efficiency. In forest ecosystems, birds and parasitoids exhibit enemy complementarity, where birds reduce parasitoid predation risk, enhancing overall predation efficiency.

Keywords:

Diptera Hymenoptera Lepidoptera Tachinidae caterpillars enemy‐free space forests host–parasite interactions plant–herbivore interactions trees tri‐trophic interactions

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Last Updated: Jun 1, 2025

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Published on: September 4, 2016

Area of Science:

Ecology
Evolutionary Ecology
Biological Control

Background:

Consumer diversity influences consumption efficiency, a key ecological concept.
Intraguild predation (predators consuming each other) can reduce predation efficiency, while enemy complementarity can increase it.
Parasitoids face intraguild predation from generalist predators, leading to debate on whether interference or complementarity dominates their interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the interplay between intraguild predation and enemy complementarity in a forest food web.
To determine if predator diversity enhances or reduces predation efficiency in a natural system.
To examine the specific interactions between parasitoids, birds, and ants in regulating herbivorous caterpillar populations.

Main Methods:

Field experiments were conducted in a forest community.
The study involved multiple species of trees, herbivorous caterpillars, parasitoids, ants, and birds.
Parasitism rates and predator-prey interactions were analyzed to assess interference and complementarity effects.

Main Results:

No interference effects were observed between the studied predator groups.
Clear evidence of enemy complementarity was found between parasitoids and birds, but not with ants.
Parasitism rates by parasitoids were negatively associated with bird predation risk, indicating birds indirectly benefit parasitoids.

Conclusions:

Avoidance of intraguild predation by parasitoids may drive enemy complementarity.
Enemy complementarity, driven by predator avoidance, can enhance overall predation efficiency in ecological communities.
These findings help explain complex patterns in terrestrial food webs involving vertebrates, arthropods, and plants.