Model Suggests Mutual Population Regulation.
The Lotka–Volterra model of predator–prey interactions assumes a mutual regulation of predator and prey populations. In the equations presented previously, the link between the growth of predator and prey populations is described by a single term relating to the consumption of prey: (cNprey)Npred. For the prey population, this term represents the regulation of population growth through mortality. In the predator population, it represents the regulation of population growth through reproduction. Regulation of the predator population growth is a direct result of two distinct responses by the predator to changes in prey population. First, predator population growth depends on the per capita rate at which prey are captured (cNprey). The relationship shown in Figure 14.1a implies that the greater the number of prey, the more the predator eats. The relationship between the per capita rate of consumption and the number of prey is referred to as the predator’s functional response . Second, this increased consumption of prey results in an increase in predator reproduction [b(cNprey)], referred to as the predator’s numerical response .
This model of predator–prey interaction has been widely criticized for overemphasizing the mutual regulation of predator and prey populations. The continuing appeal of these equations to population ecologists, however, lies in the straightforward mathematical descriptions and in the oscillatory behavior that seems to occur in predator–prey systems. Perhaps the greatest value of this model is in stimulating a more critical look at predator–prey interactions in natural communities, including the conditions influencing the control of prey populations by predators. A variety of factors have emerged from laboratory and field studies, including the availability of cover (refuges) for the prey (as in the experiments discussed in Section 14.3), the increasing difficulty of locating prey as it becomes scarcer, choice among multiple prey species, and evolutionary changes in predator and prey characteristics (coevolution). In the following sections, we examine each of these topics and consider how they influence predator–prey interactions.