Prey Limitation Drives Variation in Allometric Scaling of Predator-Prey Interactions

Simple item page
dc.citation.firstpageE139en_US
dc.citation.issueNumber4en_US
dc.citation.journalTitleThe American Naturalisten_US
dc.citation.lastpageE149en_US
dc.citation.volumeNumber192en_US
dc.contributor.authorCosta-Pereira, Raulen_US
dc.contributor.authorAraújo, Márcio Silvaen_US
dc.contributor.authorOlivier, Renan da Silvaen_US
dc.contributor.authorSouza, Franco L.en_US
dc.contributor.authorRudolf, Volker H.W.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2018-11-01T19:40:03Zen_US
dc.date.available2018-11-01T19:40:03Zen_US
dc.date.issued2018en_US
dc.description.abstractEcologists have long searched for a universal size-scaling constant that governs trophic interactions. Although this is an appealing theoretical concept, predator-prey size ratios (PPSRs) vary strikingly across and within natural food webs, meaning that predators deviate from their optimal prey size by consuming relatively larger or smaller prey. Here we suggest that this unexpected variation in allometric scaling of trophic interactions can be predicted by gradients of prey limitation consistent with predictions from optimal foraging theory. We analyzed >6,000 trophic interactions of 52 populations from four tropical frog species along a gradient of prey limitation. The mean of PPSR and its variance differed up to two orders of magnitude across and within food webs. Importantly, as prey availability decreased across food webs, PPSR and its variance became more size dependent. Thus, trophic interactions did not follow a fixed allometric scaling but changed predictably with the strength of prey limitation. Our results emphasize the importance of ecological contexts in arranging food webs and the need to incorporate ecological drivers of PPSR and its variance in food web and community models.en_US
dc.identifier.citationCosta-Pereira, Raul, Araújo, Márcio Silva, Olivier, Renan da Silva, et al.. "Prey Limitation Drives Variation in Allometric Scaling of Predator-Prey Interactions." <i>The American Naturalist,</i> 192, no. 4 (2018) The University of Chicago Press: E139-E149. https://doi.org/10.1086/698726.en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1086/698726en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/103277en_US
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherThe University of Chicago Pressen_US
dc.rightsArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.en_US
dc.subject.keywordfood weben_US
dc.subject.keywordpredator-prey mass ratioen_US
dc.subject.keywordpredator-prey size ratioen_US
dc.subject.keywordprey availabilityen_US
dc.subject.keywordsize scalingen_US
dc.subject.keywordtrophic interactionsen_US
dc.titlePrey Limitation Drives Variation in Allometric Scaling of Predator-Prey Interactionsen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.type.dcmiTexten_US
dc.type.publicationpublisher versionen_US
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
698726.pdf
Size:
1.34 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
Collections
Faculty Publications
BioSciences Publications