PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 67: Modeling: Nutrient Cycling; Food Webs
Tuesday, August 9, 1:30 PM - 5:00 PM, Meeting Room 520 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
The effect of predation on grouping in an attractant-mediated aggregation model.
Nelson, Jennifer1, Wilson, William1, 1 Duke University, Durham, NC, 27708
ABSTRACT- We developed a model of attractant-mediated aggregation with explicit predation on a population of aggregating prey. The population dynamics in the model were defined by the nonspatial Rosenzweig-MacArthur predator prey model. Additionally, prey exhibited attractant-mediated aggregation. This was modeled using an integro-differential equation system based on the Keller-Segel model. Predators and attractant were assumed to diffuse randomly throughout space, and only prey showed directed movement up a gradient of attractant levels. We compared our integro-differential equation model to an individual based simulation model of the system. We found general agreement between both versions of the model in the transient phase of a perturbation from the homogenous steady state. Finally, we examined the effects of predation on group formation in the prey population and found a reduction in aggregation as a result of predation.
Key words: aggregation, predator-prey, predation, grouping