- Title
- Predator-prey systems depend on a prey refuge
- Creator
- Chivers, W. J.; Gladstone, W.; Herbert, R. D.; Fuller, M. M.
- Relation
- Journal of Theoretical Biology Vol. 360, p. 271-278
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.07.016
- Publisher
- Academic Press
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2014
- Description
- Models of near-exclusive predator-prey systems such as that of the Canadian lynx and snowshoe hare have included factors such as a second prey species, a Holling Type II predator response and climatic or seasonal effects to reproduce sub-sets of six signature patterns in the empirical data. We present an agent-based model which does not require the factors or constraints of previous models to reproduce all six patterns in persistent populations. Our parsimonious model represents a generalised predator and prey species with a small prey refuge. The lack of the constraints of previous models, considered to be important for those models, casts doubt on the current hypothesised mechanisms of exclusive predator-prey systems. The implication for management of the lynx, a protected species, is that maintenance of an heterogeneous environment offering natural refuge areas for the hare is the most important factor for the conservation of this species.
- Subject
- individual-based model; Lynx-hare system; Mustela-Clethrionomys system; pattern-oriented modelling; prey-switching
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1304781
- Identifier
- uon:20922
- Identifier
- ISSN:0022-5193
- Language
- eng
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