Predator-prey dynamics driven by feedback between functionally diverse trophic levels.

ABSTRACT: Neglecting the naturally existing functional diversity of communities and the resulting potential to respond to altered conditions may strongly reduce the realism and predictive power of ecological models. We therefore propose and study a predator-prey model that describes mutual feedback via species shifts in both predator and prey, using a dynamic trait approach. Species compositions of the two trophic levels were described by mean functional traits--prey edibility and predator food-selectivity--and functional diversities by the variances. Altered edibility triggered shifts in food-selectivity so that consumers continuously respond to the present prey composition, and vice versa. This trait-mediated feedback mechanism resulted in a complex dynamic behavior with ongoing oscillations in th

SUBMITTER: Tirok K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3214039 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature