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In size-selective predation, predators select prey of a certain size. [81] Large prey may prove troublesome for a predator, while small prey might prove hard to find and in any case provide less of a reward. This has led to a correlation between the size of predators and their prey. Size may also act as a refuge for large prey. For example ...
Predation is a short-term interaction, in which the predator, here an osprey, kills and eats its prey. Short-term interactions, including predation and pollination, are extremely important in ecology and evolution. These are short-lived in terms of the duration of a single interaction: a predator kills and eats a prey; a pollinator transfers ...
One type is where the prey confronts its predator and the interaction ends with no feeding. Two competing predators may interact and the larger predator will prey on the smaller. Smaller organisms may prey on larger organisms. Changing population densities may trigger a role reversal. In addition, adult prey may attack juvenile predators. [1]
For example, exploitative interactions between a predator and prey can result in the extinction of the victim (the prey, in this case), as the predator, by definition, kills the prey, and thus reduces its population. [2] Another effect of these interactions is in the coevolutionary "hot" and "cold spots" put forth by geographic mosaic theory ...
For example, the hemipteran Arachnocoris berytoides resembles Faiditus caudatus, a spider commensal of ants. [34] In cryptic aggressive mimicry, the predator mimics an organism that its prey is indifferent to. This allows the predator to avoid detection until the prey are close enough for the predator to strike, effectively a form of camouflage.
Intraguild predation is common in nature and widespread across communities and ecosystems. [2] Intraguild predators must share at least one prey species and usually occupy the same trophic guild, and the degree of IGP depends on factors such as the size, growth, and population density of the predators, as well as the population density and behavior of their shared prey. [1]
The Lotka–Volterra predator-prey model makes a number of assumptions about the environment and biology of the predator and prey populations: [5] The prey population finds ample food at all times. The food supply of the predator population depends entirely on the size of the prey population.
Predators and prey interact and coevolve: the predator to catch the prey more effectively, the prey to escape. The coevolution of the two mutually imposes selective pressures. These often lead to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in anti-predator adaptations. [41]