TABORDA SWING

Topic: Predator-prey relationships and top-down/bottom-up control of

ecosystems

Outline:

I. Predation
 Definition of predation
 Roles of predator and prey
(in population dynamics and natural selection)
II. Predation takes a variety of forms
 Simplest classification of predators based on their use of plant
and animal tissues as sources of food:
a. Carnivores
b. Herbivores
c. Omnivores
 Functional classification of predators
(true predators- species that kill their prey more or less immediately upon
capture VS most herbivores (grazers and browsers), and parasites and
parasitoids (have more intimate interactions between parasite and host that
extends beyond the feeding relationship between predator and prey)

III. Mathematical model describes the basics of predation

 Lotka and Volterra’s equation for the rate of change in the prey
population:

 Lotka and Volterra’s equation for the rate of change in the

predator population
 (a) Relationship between prey population (x -axis) and the per
capita consumption rate of predation (y -axis).
 (b) Relationship between the number of prey consumed (x -axis)
and the number of predator offspring produced (y -axis).
  Patterns predicted by the Lotka–Volterra model of predator–prey
interaction:

 Model suggests mutual population regulation

IV. Functional responses relate prey consumed to prey density
 Formula for per capita rate of predation:
 Holling’s three types of functional response curves.
 Three examples of functional response curves relating the per
capita rate of predation (y -axis) to prey density (x -axis).
  Type II functional response

 The total time (T ) spent searching and

handling the prey

 Factors may result in a type III response

a. Availability of cover (refuge) from which to escape predators
b. Predator’s search image
c. Prey switching Eg. prey switching by sticklebacks (Spinachia spinachia )
fed on mixtures of Gammarus and Artemia (Hughes and Croy 1993)
V. Predators respond numerically to changing prey density
Marc Salamolard and colleagues provide an example of how these two
components of numerical response (immigration and increased reproduction) can
combine to influence the response of a predator population to changes in prey
abundance.

VI. Risk of predation can influence foraging behavior

VII. Coevolution can occur between predator and prey
Eg. Coevolution of a predator (seed-eating bird) and its prey (seeds)
VIII. Animal prey have evolved defenses against predators
-can be permanent or induced
a. Chemical defenses f. Mullerian mimicry
b. Cryptic coloration g. use of protection armor
c. Object resemblance h. behavioral responses
d. Warning coloration i. predator satiation
e. Batesian mimicry

IX. Predators have evolved efficient hunting tactics

 Three general types of hunting
a. Ambush
b. Stalking
c. Pursuit
 Tactics
a. Cryptic coloration
b. Mimicry
c. Use of chemical poisons
d. Formation of groups
X. Herbivores prey on autotrophs

Examples of the impact of high rates of herbivory.

(a) Intense predation on oaks by gypsy moths in the forests of eastern North
America. (b) Contrast between heavily grazed grassland in southeast Africa and an
adjacent area where large herbivores have been excluded.
XI. Plants have evolved characteristics that deter herbivores
 Structural defenses, such as hairy leaves, thorns, and spines
 Quality of food as the constraint on food supply for herbivores
(Low-quality foods are tough, woody, fibrous, and indigestible. High-quality foods are
young, soft, and green or they are storage organs such as roots, tubers, and seeds)
 Secondary compounds in plants- Qualitative or quantitative inhibitors

XII. Plants, Herbivores, and Carnivores Interact

Eg. The three-way interaction of woody vegetation, snowshoe hare, and
lynx. (Adapted from Keith et al. 1974.)
XIII. Predators influence prey dynamics through lethal and nonlethal effects
Interaction between herbivorous and predatory insects in fields of alfalfa
(Medicago sativa).
Damsel bugs feed by piercing aphids with a long proboscis and ingesting the body
contents. Damsel bugs, therefore, influence prey in two ways: first by consuming
aphids and second by disturbing their feeding behavior.

Adapted from Nelson et al.,2004.

Nelson, E. H., C. E. Matthews, and J. A. Rosenheim. 2004. Predators reduce prey

population growth by inducing changes in prey behavior. Ecology. 85: 1853–1858
Ecological Monographs 72:77–93.

XIV. Food webs describe species interactions

(Basal species, Intermediate species, Top predators)
XV. Food Webs Illustrate Indirect Interactions
 Keystone predation Eg. starfish (Pisaster)
 Apparent competition

Diagram showing the relationship among the midge larva (Chaoborus), larval
salamander (Ambystoma ), and two species of Daphnia (D. rosea and the larger D. pulex)
that inhabit pond communities in the mountains of Colorado.
(Adapted from Dodson 1974.)
 XVI. Food Webs Suggest Controls of
Community Structure
 Species within a community can
be classified into functional
groups (Guilds)
 Bottom-up control
 Top-down control

Articles: What Drives the 10-year Cycle of Snowshoe Hares? (Krebs et al.,2001)

Silliman, B. R., and J. C. Zieman. 2001. Top-down control on Spartina

alterniflora production by periwinkle grazing in a Virginia salt
marsh.Ecology 82:2830–2845.

Silliman, B. R., and M. D. Bertness. 2002. A trophic cascade regulates

salt marsh primary production. Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences USA 99:10500–10505.
Book reference:

Smith, TM & Smith, RL 2012. Elements of Ecology. 8th Ed. USA. Pearson Benjamin
Cummings.