Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
A theory for investment across defences triggered at different stages of a predator-prey encounter. / Wang, Lingzi; Ruxton, Graeme D.; Cornell, Stephen J.; Speed, Michael P.; Broom, Mark.
In: Journal of Theoretical Biology, Vol. 473, 21.07.2019, p. 9-19.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A theory for investment across defences triggered at different stages of a predator-prey encounter
AU - Wang, Lingzi
AU - Ruxton, Graeme D.
AU - Cornell, Stephen J.
AU - Speed, Michael P.
AU - Broom, Mark
PY - 2019/7/21
Y1 - 2019/7/21
N2 - We introduce a general theoretical description of a combination of defences acting sequentially at different stages in the predatory sequence in order to make predictions about how animal prey should best allocate investment across different defensive stages. We predict that defensive investment will often be concentrated at stages early in the interaction between a predator individual and the prey (especially if investment is concentrated in only one defence, then it will be in the first defence). Key to making this prediction is the assumption that there is a cost to a prey when it has a defence tested by an enemy, for example because this incurs costs of deployment or tested costs as a defence is exposed to the enemies; and the assumption that the investment functions are the same among defences. But if investment functions are different across defences (e.g. the investment efficiency in making resources into defences is higher in later defences than in earlier defences), then the contrary could happen. The framework we propose can be applied to other victim-exploiter systems, such as insect herbivores feeding on plant tissues. This leads us to propose a novel explanation for the observation that herbivory damage is often not well explained by variation in concentrations of toxic plant secondary metabolites. We compare our general theoretical structure with related examples in the literature, and conclude that coevolutionary approaches will be profitable in future work.
AB - We introduce a general theoretical description of a combination of defences acting sequentially at different stages in the predatory sequence in order to make predictions about how animal prey should best allocate investment across different defensive stages. We predict that defensive investment will often be concentrated at stages early in the interaction between a predator individual and the prey (especially if investment is concentrated in only one defence, then it will be in the first defence). Key to making this prediction is the assumption that there is a cost to a prey when it has a defence tested by an enemy, for example because this incurs costs of deployment or tested costs as a defence is exposed to the enemies; and the assumption that the investment functions are the same among defences. But if investment functions are different across defences (e.g. the investment efficiency in making resources into defences is higher in later defences than in earlier defences), then the contrary could happen. The framework we propose can be applied to other victim-exploiter systems, such as insect herbivores feeding on plant tissues. This leads us to propose a novel explanation for the observation that herbivory damage is often not well explained by variation in concentrations of toxic plant secondary metabolites. We compare our general theoretical structure with related examples in the literature, and conclude that coevolutionary approaches will be profitable in future work.
KW - Sequential defences
KW - Predation
KW - Herbivory
KW - Cost
KW - Trade-off
U2 - 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.04.016
DO - 10.1016/j.jtbi.2019.04.016
M3 - Article
VL - 473
SP - 9
EP - 19
JO - Journal of Theoretical Biology
JF - Journal of Theoretical Biology
SN - 0022-5193
ER -
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Mark Andrew Joseph Chaplain (Editor)
Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Editor of research journal
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
ID: 258833508