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Effects of predator-specific defence on community complexity

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Summary

Some properties of community structure are explored using co-evolutionary theory. We consider mathematical models of food webs in which all species in a community adopt foraging behaviours and antipredator behaviours that maximize individual fitness. If the antipredator behaviour of a prey is effective against all its enemies, the number of prey—predator links in a food web must be less than the sum of the numbers of prey and predator species. However, if an increase in a prey's attention to one type of predator decreases its attention to another type of predator, there may be no limit on the number of predator species using a common set of prey species. Predator-specific defence allows a much more complex community structure than non-specific defence. Predator-specific defence more frequently allows a large niche overlap between predators than does non-specific defence. The high connectivity of some fish communities in Lake Tanganyika may be an example of this phenomenon.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Kyushu University Higashi-ku, 812, Fukuoka, Japan

    Hiroyuki Matsuda

  2. Department of Biology, Wakayama Medical College, 651 Hironishi, 640, Wakayama, Japan

    Michio Hori

  3. Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, University of Minnesota, 1987 Upper Buford Circle, 55108, St Paul, MN, USA

    Peter A. Abrams

Authors
  1. Hiroyuki Matsuda
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  2. Michio Hori
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  3. Peter A. Abrams
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Matsuda, H., Hori, M. & Abrams, P.A. Effects of predator-specific defence on community complexity. Evol Ecol 8, 628–638 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237846

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01237846

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