Population Control
Predator-prey cycles, or the role of predation in population control, are characterized by regularly spaced increases and decreases in the population sizes or densities of a predator and its prey. For an example, the predator is a carnivorous species and the prey is an herbivorous species. However, carnivores that prey on other carnivores, herbivores feeding on plants, and even parasites attacking their host organisms are sometimes considered to have the same relationship, and so to be predator-prey systems. The predator population’s fluctuations follow those of the prey population through time. That is, the prey population begins to increase while the predator population is still decreasing and the prey population decreases while the predator population is still increasing. The classic (and simplest) explanation of these cycles is that the predator drives the changes in the prey population (by catching and killing its members) and the prey (as the predator’s food supply) drives the predator’s population changes, but a lag between the population responses of predator and prey cause the two cycles to be out of phase with one another.
In general, the increases and declines of population density and the regulation of those changes are important aspects of community organization with the potential for practical applications such as pest control and conservation of endangered species. Population cycles, in which the population increases and decreases repeatedly, at more or less regular intervals, have been at the center of the attempt to understand population fluctuations. Some examples of predator- prey relationships in deciduous forest ecosystems are:
Cougars, which ambush or outrun deer
Foxes, which use their agility to hunt small animals like rodents and small birds
Owls, which ambush rodents and other birds
Skunks, which feed on insects and use their anal scent glands as a defensive weapon against potential predators
Birds, which also feed on insects
Opossum and fishers, which opportunistically feed on a wide variety of small animals such as insects, frogs, birds, snakes, small mammals, slugs, and earthworms. As a defensive technique, opossum will also "play possum," mimicking a dead or sick animal. Both opossum and fishers will hiss at their target if they feel threatened.
In general, the increases and declines of population density and the regulation of those changes are important aspects of community organization with the potential for practical applications such as pest control and conservation of endangered species. Population cycles, in which the population increases and decreases repeatedly, at more or less regular intervals, have been at the center of the attempt to understand population fluctuations. Some examples of predator- prey relationships in deciduous forest ecosystems are:
Cougars, which ambush or outrun deer
Foxes, which use their agility to hunt small animals like rodents and small birds
Owls, which ambush rodents and other birds
Skunks, which feed on insects and use their anal scent glands as a defensive weapon against potential predators
Birds, which also feed on insects
Opossum and fishers, which opportunistically feed on a wide variety of small animals such as insects, frogs, birds, snakes, small mammals, slugs, and earthworms. As a defensive technique, opossum will also "play possum," mimicking a dead or sick animal. Both opossum and fishers will hiss at their target if they feel threatened.