Prey refuges and predator prey stability

Abstract Refuge use can be broadly defined to include any strategy that decreases predation risk, e.g., spatial or temporal refuges, prey aggregations, or reduced search activity by prey. The existence of refuges can clearly have important effects on the coexistence of predators and prey. Previous models have only considered the effects of a constant proportion or constant number of prey using refuges. However, these are only two special cases from among the range of possible patterns of refuge use. We show the general conditions for when refuge use should have a stabilizing effect on Lotka-Volterra-type predator-prey systems. For a stabilizing effect, the proportion of prey in refuges must either: (1) decrease with increasing prey density, or (2) increase with both increasing predator density and increasing predation pressure. We also examine the effect of the cost of refuge use in decreased prey feeding or reproductive rates. Finally, we review some relevant empirical data and present some new data of our own.

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