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Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the host) and parasitoidism (which always does, eventually).
Hyperpredation has been recorded in an ecosystem involving a bird (native prey), a cat (alien predator), and a rabbit (alien prey). Hyperpredation, also known as hypopredation, is when a generalist predator increases its predation pressure as a result of the introduction of a substitute prey. [1]
The predation risk allocation hypothesis can help researchers learn how animals make behavioural responses to predators, since it is the first research that observes temporal variation in different risk situations. [7] Animals' responses to predators can be better understood by observing behaviour adjustments to modified risk levels.
Ecology; Ecology addresses the full scale of life, from tiny bacteria to processes that span the entire planet. Ecologists study many diverse and complex relations among species, such as predation and pollination. The diversity of life is organized into different habitats, from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems.
However, at low prey densities (the bottom of the curve) the rate of prey capture increases faster than linearly. This means that as the predator feeds and the prey type with the higher E/h becomes less abundant, the predator will start to switch its preference to the prey type with the lower E/h, because that type will be relatively more abundant.
In the context of ecology, predation is considered to play a crucial and necessary role in ecosystems. [47] This has led some writers, such as Michael Pollan, to reject predation as being a moral problem at all, stating "predation is not a matter of morality or politics; it, also, is a matter of symbiosis". [48]
Even if a predator may wish to eat its prey, locomotive animals may be extremely difficult to catch. Animals living in groups have increased vigilance, and even solitary animals are capable of rapid escape when needed. Even if it does make a capture, its prey may attract competing predators, giving it a chance to escape in the struggle.
The presence of predators while a (prey) animal is foraging affects its behaviour. In general, foragers balance the risk of predation with their needs, thus deviating from the foraging behaviour that would be expected in the absence of predators. [11] An example of this balanced risk can be observed in the foraging behavior of A. longimana. [12]