Question

Lab-based studies of predators and prey can be useful, but eventually one or the other usually goes extinct. What are some of the other factors that are likely to affect predators and prey in the wild? Could those be modeled or added to lab studies? Why or why not? How were biologists like Gause and Huffaker able to extend the cycles of predator prey dynamics in the lab?

Answer 1

Availability of plenty of resources will promote the growth of predators. As a result the density of prey will reduce. This will affect the predators, because they will face shortage of food and leads to death of predators. Suddent climate changes will badly affect some animals, decrease the reproduction rate and even leads to death, predators depending on such animals also for food will also die, due to lack of food. Resource availability, climate changes like increasing temperature, disease are some of the factors that affect predators and prey in the wild. These factors were included in lab studies, because it helps in understanding different aspects of predator prey relationship in a population (like why some goes to extinction). In the predator prey dynamics Gause and Huffaker made several hypothesis like population of prey will increase, when there is no or less predators, predators cannot survive with out prey, etc. From this they reached a conclusion that, main reason of reduction in prey population is due to lack of food, not because of the increased predation. Predation in leads to the development of new traits in prey as well as in predators.