When should predators have important non-lethal effects on prey populations?
Steury, Todd*,1, Mitchell, William1, Lima, Steven1, 1 Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN ABSTRACT- Ecologists increasingly recognize that predators can have both lethal and non-lethal effects on prey populations, whereby the non-lethal effect of predators is a decrease in prey per-capita recruitment as a result of predator avoidance. As of yet, however, few studies have determined the factors that influence the magnitude of the non-lethal effect of predators. Knowledge of such factors and their impact on the non-lethal effect is of critical importance to conservationists, managers, and researchers who seek to understand the total effect of predators on prey populations. We developed a simple predator prey model that incorporates anti-predator behavior in order to examine how changes in predation risk and resource availability influence the optimal level of behavior and the non-lethal and lethal effects of predators. We found that the non-lethal effect of predators should be grea
