A mechanistic model for partial preferences

Authored by L Berec, V Krivan

Date Published: 2000

DOI: 10.1006/tpbi.2000.1491

Sponsors: United States National Science Foundation (NSF)

Platforms: No platforms listed

Model Documentation: Other Narrative Mathematical description

Model Code URLs: Model code not found

Abstract

Classic prey optimal foraging model assumes that individual predators are globally omniscient; that is, they have exact knowledge of prey population densities in the environment. This study examines a spatially explicit individual-based model of a one-predator two-prey system where individual predators are assumed to be omniscient only locally, i.e., to know prey population densities only in the range of their perception. Due to local variations in prey numbers, the probability of acceptance of less profitable prey shifts from the zero-one rule to a gradually decreasing function, for which an explicit formula is derived, giving way to partial preferences. A corresponding predator functional response to mo re profitable prey is shown to have a sigmoid-like form. (C) 2000 Academic Press.
Tags
Strategy mobility Choice Diet Foraging behavior Predator-prey dynamics Field Size selection