Prey Limitation Drives Variation in Allometric Scaling of Predator-Prey Interactions

Autor(es)

Costa-Pereira, Raul ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Araujo, Marcio Silva ^[1] ; Olivier, Renan da Silva ^[4] ; Souza, Franco L. ^[4] ; Rudolf, Volker H. W. ^[2]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Estadual Paulista, Inst Biociencias, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[2] Rice Univ, BioSci, Houston, TX 77005 - USA

^[3] Univ Estadual Paulista UNESP, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Biodiversidade, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Mato Grosso do Sul, Inst Biociencias, Campo Grande, MS - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: American Naturalist; v. 192, n. 4, p. E139-E149, OCT 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 10

Resumo

Ecologists have long searched for a universal size-scaling constant that governs trophic interactions. Although this is an appealing theoretical concept, predator-prey size ratios (PPSRs) vary strikingly across and within natural food webs, meaning that predators deviate from their optimal prey size by consuming relatively larger or smaller prey. Here we suggest that this unexpected variation in allometric scaling of trophic interactions can be predicted by gradients of prey limitation consistent with predictions from optimal foraging theory. We analyzed >6,000 trophic interactions of 52 populations from four tropical frog species along a gradient of prey limitation. The mean of PPSR and its variance differed up to two orders of magnitude across and within food webs. Importantly, as prey availability decreased across food webs, PPSR and its variance became more size dependent. Thus, trophic interactions did not follow a fixed allometric scaling but changed predictably with the strength of prey limitation. Our results emphasize the importance of ecological contexts in arranging food webs and the need to incorporate ecological drivers of PPSR and its variance in food web and community models. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/20924-5 - Revisitando o paradoxo da diversidade: a variação ecológica intraespecífica facilita a coexistência de espécies?
• Beneficiário: Raul Costa Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 16/09038-9 - Reconstruindo a ecologia de comunidades a partir de indivíduos: consequências da diversidade ecológica intraespecífica na coexistência de espécies e montagem de comunidades
• Beneficiário: Raul Costa Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 10/15567-8 - Causas e consequências da especialização individual em Poecilia vivipara (Cyprinodontiformes, Poeciliidae)
• Beneficiário: Márcio Silva Araújo
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores