Complementary predation on metamorphosing species promotes stability in predator–prey systems |
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Authors: | Ezer Miller Moshe Coll Lewi Stone |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Entomology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12, Rehovot, 76100, Israel;(2) Department of Zoology, Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel |
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Abstract: | Functionally redundant predation and functionally complementary predation are both widespread phenomena in nature. Functional
complementary predation can be found, for example, when predators feed on different life stages of their prey, while functional
redundant predation occurs when different predators feed on all life stages of a shared prey. Both phenomena are common in
nature, and the extent of differential life-stage predation depends mostly on prey life history; complementary predation is
expected to be more common on metamorphosing prey species, while redundant predation is thought to be higher on non-metamorphosing
species. We used an ordinary differential equation model to explore the effect of varying degree of complementary and redundant
predation on the dynamic properties of a system with two predators that feed on an age-structured prey. Our main finding was
that predation on one stage (adult or juvenile) resulted in a more stable system (i.e., it is stable for a wider range of
parameters) compared to when the two predators mix the two prey developmental stages in their diet. Our results demonstrate
that predator–prey dynamics depends strongly on predators' functionality when predator species richness is fixed. Results
also suggest that systems with metamorphosing prey are expected to be more diverse compared to systems with non-metamorphosing
prey. |
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