Does sex-selective predation stabilize or destabilize predator-prey dynamics?

ABSTRACT:

Background

Little is known about the impact of prey sexual dimorphism on predator-prey dynamics and the impact of sex-selective harvesting and trophy hunting on long-term stability of exploited populations.

Methodology and principal findings

We review the quantitative evidence for sex-selective predation and study its long-term consequences using several simple predator-prey models. These models can be also interpreted in terms of feedback between harvesting effort and population size of the harvested species under open-access exploitation. Among the 81 predator-prey pairs found in the literature, male bias in predation is 2.3 times as common as female bias. We show that long-term effects of sex-selective predation depend on the interplay of predation bias and prey mating sy

SUBMITTER: Boukal DS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2444021 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature