Virtual prey with Levy motion are preferentially attacked by predatory fish.

ABSTRACT: Of widespread interest in animal behavior and ecology is how animals search their environment for resources, and whether these search strategies are optimal. However, movement also affects predation risk through effects on encounter rates, the conspicuousness of prey, and the success of attacks. Here, we use predatory fish attacking a simulation of virtual prey to test whether predation risk is associated with movement behavior. Despite often being demonstrated to be a more efficient strategy for finding resources such as food, we find that prey displaying Lévy motion are twice as likely to be targeted by predators than prey utilizing Brownian motion. This can be explained by the predators, at the moment of the attack, preferentially targeting prey that were moving with straighter trajecto

SUBMITTER: Ioannou CC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10332449 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature