We investigated daily and annual variation in the marine habitat selection of marbled murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus (Alcidae) in the nearshore California Current System at scales of 10 to 100 km of coastline. We addressed 2 general questions: (1) how do murrelets select habitat while facing dramatic and often rapid variation in oceanographic conditions and prey availability; and (2) does s...

In a seminal publication Hassell and May demonstrated that sufficiently uneven spatial distributions can stabilize predator-prey systems. In this article we investigate whether such spatial distributions (of either predators or prey) can be caused by behavior that is favored by natural selection. If selection operates on predators only, evolutionarily stable patch selection strategies (ESSs) wi...

predation rate is basic to any investigation of prey-predator interaction and a major component in the selection of predators for biological control. the predation rate of variegated lady beetle, hippodamia variegata (goze), fed on different densities (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100) of third instar nymphs of cotton aphid, aphis gossypii glover, was studied under laboratory conditions (25 ± 1 °c, 65 ± ...

SEW•AL studies have reported selection against conspicuous prey. Dice (1947) reported differential selection against conspicuous phenotypes of mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) and Kaufman (1974a) showed that Barn Owls (Tyto alba) and Screech Owls (Otus asio) selected against conspicuous phenotypes of old field mice (Peromyscus polionotus). Metzgar (1967) reported that Screech Owls preferred transi...

Predator-prey interactions often vary on the basis of the traits of the individual predators and prey involved. Here we examine whether the multidimensional behavioral diversity of predator groups shapes prey mortality rates and selection on prey behavior. We ran individual sea stars (Pisaster ochraceus) through three behavioral assays to characterize individuals' behavioral phenotype along thr...

Understanding how food distribution influences habitat choice is a central goal of behavioural ecology. Because animals select habitats at different scales, and because the selection criteria used may be scale-dependent, studies examining the significance of food in relation to habitat selection should ideally incorporate more than one spatial scale. We relied on spatial ecology data and prey a...

Numerous ecological models evaluate how predators influence the abundance of their prey. Prey dynamics in these models often reflect a compromise between prey reproductive potential, density-dependent competition, and the direct consumption of prey by predators. But predators and prey play a complex evolutionary game where prey behavior, and its effect on distribution and abundance, depends on ...