To see how invading predators change an ecosystem, watch the prey, say researchers

Date:  June 5, 2019

Source:  Princeton University

Invading predators can devastate an ecosystem. In fact, a leading cause of extinction is the introduction of predators into an isolated system like an island or a lake. The destruction is usually blamed on the predator's eating choices, but sometimes the key lies in the prey animals' responses, according to an international team of researchers led by Princeton's Robert Pringle.

"You really can't understand predator-prey interactions -- or how predators will affect biodiversity and ecosystems -- without understanding the behavior of the prey," said Pringle, an associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. "The ways in which prey change their behavior to avoid getting eaten is a hard thing to predict, but without understanding that, you can't predict anything else. Most theory in ecology simply assumes that predators eat prey, end of story. The real world is more complicated. But it's not so complicated that we can't get to the bottom of it."

Continued