Evolutionary ecology of movement by predators and prey

Authored by Samuel M Flaxman, Yuan Lou, Francois G Meyer

Date Published: 2011

DOI: 10.1007/s12080-011-0120-6

Sponsors: United States National Science Foundation (NSF)

Platforms: C

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

An essential key to explaining the mechanistic basis of ecological patterns lies in understanding the consequences of adaptive behavior for distributions and abundances of organisms. We developed a model that simultaneously incorporates (a) ecological dynamics across three trophic levels and (b) evolution of behaviors via the processes of mutation, selection, and drift in populations of variable, unique individuals. Using this model to study adaptive movements of predators and prey in a spatially explicit environment produced a number of unexpected results. First, even though predators and prey had limited information and sometimes moved in the ``wrong{''} direction, evolved movement mechanisms allowed them to achieve average spatial distributions approximating optimal, ideal free distributions. Second, predators' demographic parameters had marked, nonlinear effects on the evolution of movement mechanisms in the prey: As the predator mortality rate was increased past a critical point, prey abruptly shifted from making very frequent movements away from predators to making infrequent movements mainly in response to resources. Third, time series analyses revealed that adaptive, conditional movements coupled ecological dynamics across species and space. Our results provide general predictions, heretofore lacking, about how predators and prey should respond to one another on both ecological and evolutionary time scales.

Tags

Spatial dynamics Coevolution Dispersal ideal free distribution Population-dynamics Individual behavior Patchy environments Host-parasitoid associations Habitat selection games 1/f noise