Deadly competition and life-saving predation: the potential for alternative stable states in a stage-structured predator-prey system.

ABSTRACT: Predators often undergo complete ontogenetic diet shifts, engaging in resource competition with species that become their prey during later developmental stages. Theory posits that this mix of stage-specific competition and predation, termed life-history intraguild predation (LHIGP), can lead to alternative stable states. In one state, prey exclude predators through competition (i.e. juvenile competitive bottleneck), while in the alternative, adult predators control prey density to limit competition and foster coexistence. Nevertheless, the interactions leading to these states have not been demonstrated in an empirical LHIGP system. To address this gap, we manipulated densities of cannibalistic adult cyclopoid copepods (Mesocyclops edax) and their cladoceran prey (Daphnia pulex) in a respo

SUBMITTER: Toscano BJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5013804 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature