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The role of indirect effects such as apparent competition in structuring predator-prey assemblages has recently received empirical attention. That one prey species can be excluded by the impact of a shared-enemy contrasts with the known diversity of multispecies predator-prey interactions. Here, the role of predator foraging among patches of two different prey species is examined as a mechanism that can mediate coexistence in multispecies prey-predator assemblages. Specifically, models of host-parasitoid interactions are constructed to analyse how different types of aggregative behaviour (generated by host-dependent and host-independent responses) affect persistence of the assemblage. How the distribution of hosts and the response of the parasitoid to these distributions can influence coexistence is shown. A generic explanation for coexistence suggests that it is the variability rather than the precise functional relationship that is critical for coexistence under shared-enemy interactions.

Type

Journal article

Journal

J Theor Biol

Publication Date

21/03/2003

Volume

221

Pages

193 - 204

Keywords

Animals, Ecology, Host-Parasite Interactions, Models, Statistical, Population Dynamics, Predatory Behavior