Foragers must balance the costs and gains inherent in the pursuit of their next meal.
Classical functional response formulations describe consumption rates driven by prey …

This article reviews the nature of functional responses that have commonly been used to
represent feeding relationships in the ecological literature. It compares these with the range …

The behavior of any complex dynamic system is a natural result of the interaction between
the components of that system. Important examples of these systems are biological models …

Foraging theory predicts the evolution of feeding behaviors that increase consumer fitness.
Sponges were among the earliest metazoans on earth and developed a unique filter …

Food webs have now been addressed in empirical and theoretical research for more than
50 years. Yet, even elementary foundational issues are still hotly debated. One difficulty is …

Many generalist predators, including fish, insects and mammals, temporarily focus on their
search behaviour and can switch between prey species. Flexible and rapid behavioural …

The analysis of mechanisms underlying prey use and selection is crucial for understanding
the potential for apex predators to shape ecological processes across trophic levels …

Competition between species arises when two or more species share at least some of the
same limited resources. It is likely to affect all species, as well as many higher-level aspects …

More than 60 years have passed since CS “Buzz” Holling (1930–2019) published his
landmark papers describing the relationship between prey density and the predator's per …

Functional responses relate a consumer's feeding rates to variation in its abiotic and biotic
environment, providing insight into consumer behaviour and fitness, and underpinning …