Abstract
POPULATION ecology typically focuses on particular species or pairs of species within webs of interacting species to understand variations in their abundance. Classical theory1–3 predicts multi-generation cycles in predator and prey abundance. These cycles have received considerable attention3–6, although there is an alternative possibility, of prey generation-length cycles in predator–prey interactions7–9. Does observation of either of these patterns depend on how firmly predators and prey are embedded in their web of interactions? Concurrent investigations of predator–prey dynamics both in isolation and within a larger web have been lacking. Here we report observations of the population dynamics of a simple predator–prey system, and also of a three-species system including predator and prey. The dynamic patterns exhibited by both systems are cyclic, but the increase from two to three species gives rise to a marked shift in cycle peroid from one to several host generation lengths.
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Begon, M., Sait, S. & Thompson, D. Predator–prey cycles with period shifts between two-and three-species systems. Nature 381, 311–315 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/381311a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/381311a0
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