The extraordinarily long life cycles, synchronous emergences at 13- or 17-year intervals, and complex geographic distribution of periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) in eastern North America are a long-standing evolutionary enigma. Although a variety of factors, including satiation of aboveground predators and avoidance of interbrood hybridization, have been hypothesized to shape the evolution ...

Interactions between natural enemies and their victims are a pervasive feature of the natural world. In this paper, we discuss trophic interactions as determinants of geographic range limits. Predators can directly limit ranges, or do so in conjunction with competition. Dispersal can at times permit a specialist predator to constrain the distribution of its prey-and thus itself-along a gradient...

We experimentally tested whether two similarly sized generalist predators found in different habitats had similar effects on prey community patterns. Notophthalmus viridescens (the red-spotted newt) occurs primarily in temporary ponds, while Enneacanthus obesus (the banded sunfish) is restricted to permanent ponds. Larval anurans are an important prey assemblage found in both kinds of ponds. We...

1. Activity and microhabitat use are important factors determining species performance in habitats that differ in permanence and species composition of top predators. This study examined the relationship between the distribution across a gradient of habitat permanence and an associated transition in the composition of top predators and the behaviour of species of larval dragonflies. It also ass...

The use of space by predators in relation to their prey is a poorly understood aspect of predator-prey interactions. Classic theory suggests that predators should focus their efforts on areas of abundant prey, that is, prey hotspots, whereas game-theoretical models of predator and prey movement suggest that the distribution of predators should match that of their prey's resources. If, however, ...