Predator Ecology: Evolutionary Ecology of the Functional Response

Predator-prey interactions are essential to ecological systems, regulating energy flow and influencing abundance, diversity, and dynamics. The functional response, quantified by the relationship between a predator's foraging rate and food availability, is central to how all communities function and drives their evolution. This novel textbook provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of functional responses, their importance in linking individuals, evolution, and community properties, and their potential for future research. It is suitable for graduate students, researchers, and anyone interested in predator-prey interactions.

Format: Hardback
Length: 176 pages
Publication date: 15 September 2021
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Predator-prey interactions are a pervasive phenomenon that govern the flow of energy up trophic levels and have a significant impact on the structure of ecological systems. These interactions are typically quantified using the functional response, which measures the relationship between a predator's foraging rate and the availability of food. The functional response is central to the functioning of all ecological communities, as all communities contain foragers, and it plays a crucial role in determining the abundance, diversity, and dynamics of these communities.

The functional response also captures the various behaviors, traits, and strategies employed by predators and prey to hunt and evade each other. It serves as a clear reflection of past evolution, including predator-prey arms races, and is a major force driving the future evolution of both predator and prey. Despite the importance of functional responses, there have been relatively few attempts to synthesize or review them in a comprehensive manner.

This novel and accessible book fills this gap by providing a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of functional responses in predator-prey interactions. It demonstrates their crucial role as the link between individuals, evolution, and community properties, representing a highly integrated and measurable aspect of ecological function. The book offers a clear entry point for students, serves as a refresher for more advanced researchers, and provides motivation for future research in the field.

Predator Ecology is an advanced textbook designed for graduate students and researchers in ecology and evolutionary biology who seek a broad, up-to-date, and authoritative coverage of the field. It will also be of relevance and use to mathematical ecologists, wildlife biologists, and anyone interested in predator-prey interactions.

Weight: 444g
Dimension: 163 x 241 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192895509