BIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS Part 1 Predator and prey
Jul 20, 2015
Contents 3 Preface
4 Predator-prey-dynamics 5 Explore yourself!
6 Lepus americanus and Lynx canadensis 7 Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) chasing hare
8 Reproductive rates & prey eaten per predator 9 Biomathematics: Lotka-Volterra equation
10 Game theory: hawk-dove game of fighting 11 Strategic alternatives in social behaviour
12 Speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) playing the Bourgeois Strategy by defending sun flecks
13 Mantis shrimp as poker players using bluffing strategies 14 Optimal foraging theory – Eurasian oystercatcher
15 The extinction of the Neanderthal specialist 16 Example of a specialist – the ‘i’iwi (Vestiaria coccinea)
17 Profability of a prey is more than its energy gain 18 Cooperative hunting as an ‘evolutionary stable strategy’ 19 Cooperative hunting enables the evolution of sociality
20 An optimal strategy in areas where prey is scarce 21 Teamwork and sonar trap a school of fish in a whirlpool
22 Coral groupers invite moray eels to join hunting 23 Honeyguides calling for ratels to rob a beehive
24 The greater honeyguide has a unique mutual relationship with the Hadza hunters 25 A fluid social organisation maintained for many years
26 – 28 Credits
Preface
The parts of ‘Biotic Relationships’ of which ‘Predator and prey’ is the first, provide applications, elaborations and
illustrations with a minimal explanation
Be guided by the frame the several links draw – be inspired by the main chapter ‘Biotische Relaties’ or
enjoy the visual material
The credits are available after the last slide
If endangered the conservation status according to IUCN of the reviewed animals is mentioned
Links to videos or animations
Predator-prey-dynamics
An ecological or an economical issue?
‘Human hunters help no species’ Edward O. Wilson
Explore yourself!
Lepus americanus and Lynx canadensis
Reproductive rates & prey eaten per predator
Biomathematics: Lotka-Volterra equation
Wikipedia Notes Excel/Exercises
Game theory: hawk-dove game of fighting
An ESS or evolutionary stable strategy as an equilibrium will exist when both fitnesses are equal
When V or gain = 2 and C or cost = 10, hawks are 20% (=p) of the population and doves are 80% of the population (p = V/C)
Strategic alternatives in social behaviour
Selfishness is the base criteria of all strategic choice from a game theory perspective
Speckled wood butterflies (Pararge aegeria) playing the Bourgeois Strategy by defending sun flecks
Mantis shrimp shift to a mutant strategy by bluffing to guard their home if the cavity defender is molting
Neogonodactylus bredini
Mantis shrimp as poker players using bluffing strategies ‘do not mess with me’
Fleeing – the challenger takes Hiding – the challenger, wary over the cavity of an ambush, might give up
The challenger enters the cavity, Bluffing – the challenger is the helpless defender will lose intimidated and gives up
E/h = profability of a prey
E = amount of energy that a prey item provides
h = handling time
Oystercatchers (Haematopus
ostralegus) prefer
medium sized mussels
A large mussel provides more energy, but is harder to crack open
This choice of mussel size does not only depend on
the profability of the prey, but also on the
prey density
Optimal foraging theory – Eurasian oystercatcher
If E1/h1>E2/h2 an animal only eats prey 2 if E2/h2>E1/(h1+S1) * S1 is the search time for prey 1
Rearrangement of *: S1>[(E1h2)/E2] – h1, giving the threshold for how long S1 must be for an animal to choose for both preys
Animals that have S1’s that reach the thresholds are generalists, predators with short S1’s are specialists
The carnivorous Neanderthal diet was less flexible, which has driven them to extinction by the omnivorous Cro-Magnon people 30 000 AD
The extinction of the Neanderthal specialist
On any given relationship, specialists perfectly fulfill a narrow niche
When environmental conditions change, specialists tend to fall victim
As the lobeloid population fell, the ‘i’iwi shifted to nectar of ‘ōhi’a lehua
At least 16 species Drepanididae are extinct since 1600
Example of a specialist – the ‘i’iwi (Vestiaria coccinea)
‘Ōhi’a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha)
‘I’iwi – VU IUCN 2008
Some preys give warning signals associated with unpalatability
Beneficial also for the predator, these are indications of noxious prey
Unpalatability or poisonousness result in longer handling times
Profability of a prey is more than its energy gain
Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis))
An ‘evolutionary stable strategy’ (ESS) cannot be invaded by any alternative strategy that is initially rare
Natural selection is sufficient to prevent alternative strategies from invading and breaking an ESS
Cooperative hunting will evolve when 2 or more individuals capture more prey and suffer fewer costs together than alone
Cooperative hunting as an ‘evolutionary stable strategy’
African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), EN – IUCN 2000 Wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou)
Cheating of females has become an ESS by the risk of dropping infants
Drivers, blockers, chasers and ambushers distribute the meal in the group
Cooperative hunting enables the evolution of sociality
Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) Procolobus sp., both EN IUCN 2008
Through vocalisations a pack of Harris’s hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus) starts the hunt for preys possibly bigger than themselves
Crowding around the kill they are called the lions of the desert
An optimal strategy in areas where prey is scarce
Individual role specialization has been observed in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.)
Drivers kick up a wall of mud or send shock waves
through the water with their tails
The fish have nowhere to go except up
Panic-stricken they jump in the mouths of the barriers
lining up side by side
Corralling is a different strategy where fish are pushed their bodies up
onto mud-flat where they are easily captured
Teamwork and sonar trap a school of fish in a whirlpool
The groupers (Plectropomus pessuliferus) signal to moray eels (Gymnothorax javanicus) in order to initiate joint searching
Signalling is dependent on grouper hunger level
They recruit the eels to hiding places out of reach – it’s a fishy deal
Coral groupers invite moray eels to join hunting
Honeyguides calling for ratels to rob a beehive
Unable to get to the honeycomb, the bird attracts the ratel’s attention with chattering – a compelling evidence for interspecific hunting
Greater honeyguide (Indicator indicator)
Ratel (Mellivora capensis)
If not thanked by a gift, the bird may lead its follower to a lion or venomous snake as punishment
The greater honeyguide has a unique mutual relationship with the Hadza hunters in Tanzania
Vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) can’t survive 60 hours without blood, urging roostmates to regurgitate blood by grooming, which
consists of licking the potential donor under her wing A donor bat gives up food, which might otherwise be used to ensure
its own survival or the survival of its offspring to a recipient bat, whose chances of survival increase at no apparent cost to itself
Food sharing appears to be true altruistic and increases the chances of survival of both the individual and the population
A fluid social organisation maintained for many years
Bonus – chimpanzee throwing its prey out of a tree
Credits 3 http://www.slideshare.net/Ecologie12/deel-8-biotische-interacties
4 http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/trends-in-spawning-cod-biomass-and-in-fishing-mortality
5 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/edexcel_pre_2011/environment/populationsandpyramidsrev5.shtml
6 http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/tlw3/eBridge/Chp30/animations/ch30/predator_prey_interaction.swf
7 http://cdn2.arkive.org/media/A7/A730E596-5644-4546-BFEC-DD6E659F8404/Presentation.Large/Canada-lynx-with-snowshoe-hare-prey.jpg
8 http://nortonbooks.com/college/biology/animations/ch34a03.htm
9 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotka-Volterravergelijking http://www.math.psu.edu/tseng/class/Math251/Notes-Predator-Prey.pdf http://mathinsight.org/applet/lotka_volterra_versus_time_population_display http://www.hhofstede.nl/modules/prooiroofdier.htm
10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmwERBoeLZU
10, 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionarily_stable_strategy
12 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwtm_B3YB38 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/mantisshrimp_08
13 http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/0_0_0/mantisshrimp_08
14 http://www.arkive.org/oystercatcher/haematopus-ostralegus/video-01.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_foraging_theory
Credits 15 http://thescientistgardener.blogspot.be/2009/11/omnivores-advantage.html
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neanderthaler http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/rabbits-neanderthal-extinction-early-humans-prey_n_2807210.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_foraging_theory http://io9.com/5854582/neanderthals-were-enjoying-the-finer-things-in-life-250000-years-ago
16 http://www.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/iiwi/ http://www.futureblind.com/2011/07/generalists-vs-specialists-and-the-specialists-dilemma/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawaiian_honeycreeper http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrosideros_polymorpha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CA%BBI%CA%BBiwi http://franslanting.photoshelter.com/image/I0000Qu1AkTRr2h8 http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/hawaiian-honeycreepers-drepanididae
17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimal_foraging_theory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZwlKANA43w&index=5&list=PLbPhJdEXzeOjsLHhLrWVXD8c1d37t0cX1 http://jaymanntoday.ning.com/profiles/blogs/may-21-2013-weekly-blog-about
18 http://www.arkive.org/african-wild-dog/lycaon-pictus/video-08e.html http://www.arkive.org/african-wild-dog/lycaon-pictus/image-G4168.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting
19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=309_ceqWkmg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_chimpanzee http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting http://www.animal-dino.com/wild_kingdom.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_colobus
Credits 20 http://www.raptorrehab.org/harris-hawk.html
http://manu1.deviantart.com/art/harris-hawk-chase-78152391 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting#Aplomado_falcons http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2mrze8
21 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperative_hunting https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxuyLLhumpo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bottlenose_dolphin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoaling_and_schooling
22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn5Vhr9Tz7I http://www.animal-dino.com/wild_kingdom.html http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17147471
23 http://www.agefotostock.com/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/DAE-15006333 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D544WoTj5qI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_honeyguide http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honingdas http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mellivora_capensis/
24 http://www.ssplprints.com/image/97358/hawkins-b-waterhouse-benjamin-waterhouse-honey-guide-and-ratels-c-1845 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ETvF9z8pc0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_honeyguide
25 http://www.life.umd.edu/faculty/wilkinson/Wilkinson90SciAm.pdf http://www.arkive.org/chimpanzee/pan-troglodytes/video-sc08d.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZTAW0vPE1o
Background: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/287667494920836911/