Structure and heterogeneity of habitat determine diet of predators despite prey abundance:Similar response in Long-eared,Short-eared Owls and Common Kestrels

According to one of the theses of optimal foraging theory,main prey species abundance in the hunting area is the main factor determining the diet and habitat choices of birds of prey.However other factors can also be important.The habitat structure influences the predators’diets as well.In this study we examined the influence of habitat structure on diet compositions of three species of birds:Long-eared Owl(Asio otus),Short-eared Owl(A.flammeus)and Common Kestrel(Falco tinnunculus).The study was carried out from 2007 to 2019 in a 48 km2area of the Crane’s Homeland Reserve,Moscow Region,Russia.The habitat structures of model species’hunting territories(ratio of different types of landscape elements)were classified in module"Semi-Automatic Classification Plugin"based on the QGIS.A boosted regression tree analysis identified that the share of the main prey species in the diet is primarily determined by the landscape structure of hunting territories.The largest share of Common Vole(Microtus arvalis)in birds’diet was determined by the shrubs area(15%of hunting area),the meadow area(75%),the habitat heterogeneity(70%)and the arable land area(5%).The same predictors determined the largest share of Root Vole(Microtus oeconomus):the shrubs area 25%,the meadow area 70%,and the arable land area 3%.The annual mean abundance of prey species did not determine their importance in the diet of birds of prey.Thus,the main prey abundance in the hunting area is not a determining factor for the formation of diet composition of birds of prey.

Hunter Prey Optimization with Hybrid Deep Learning for Fake News Detection on Arabic Corpus

Nowadays,the usage of socialmedia platforms is rapidly increasing,and rumours or false information are also rising,especially among Arab nations.This false information is harmful to society and individuals.Blocking and detecting the spread of fake news in Arabic becomes critical.Several artificial intelligence(AI)methods,including contemporary transformer techniques,BERT,were used to detect fake news.Thus,fake news in Arabic is identified by utilizing AI approaches.This article develops a new hunterprey optimization with hybrid deep learning-based fake news detection(HPOHDL-FND)model on the Arabic corpus.The HPOHDL-FND technique undergoes extensive data pre-processing steps to transform the input data into a useful format.Besides,the HPOHDL-FND technique utilizes long-term memory with a recurrent neural network(LSTM-RNN)model for fake news detection and classification.Finally,hunter prey optimization(HPO)algorithm is exploited for optimal modification of the hyperparameters related to the LSTM-RNN model.The performance validation of the HPOHDL-FND technique is tested using two Arabic datasets.The outcomes exemplified better performance over the other existing techniques with maximum accuracy of 96.57%and 93.53%on Covid19Fakes and satirical datasets,respectively.

Evolutionary modifications of Astyanax larval prey capture (LPC) in a dark environment

Feeding strategies of an organism depend on the multimodal sensory processing that most efficiently integrates available visual,chemosensory,and/or mechanoreceptive cues as part of their environmental adaptation.The blind cavefish morph of Astyanax mexicanus has developed sensory-dependent behaviors to find food more efficiently than their eyed,surface-morph counterparts while in darkness.In the absence of light,adult cavefish have evolved enhanced behaviors,such as vibration attraction behavior(VAB),and changes in feeding angle.Here,we identified evolved differences in cavefish larval prey capture(LPC)behavior.In the dark,LPC is more efficient in cavefish than in surface fish.Furthermore,different cave populations express laterality in their LPC and strike towards prey preferentially located on their left or right sides.This suggests the occurrence,to some extent,of divergent LPC evolution among cave populations.While LPC can be triggered exclusively by a vibration stimulus in both surface and cavefish,we provide evidence that LPC is,at least partially,a multimodal sensory process different from adult VAB.We also found that a lack of food may exacerbate the laterality of LPC.Thus,we proposed a mathematical model for explaining laterality based on a balance between:(1)enlarged range of foraging field(behavioral or perceptive)due to asymmetry,(2)food abundance,and(3)disadvantages caused by laterality(unequal lateral hydrodynamic resistance when swimming,allocation of resources for the brain and receptors,and predator escape).

一类食饵具有阶段结构的时滞Predator-Prey系统的周期解(英文)

研究了一类时滞Predator-Prey系统,其中Prey种群是具有两个生命阶段的种群,即幼年阶段和成年阶段。Predator种群只能捕食Prey幼年种群。通过应用Gaines和Mawhin重合度理论的连续函数定理,给出了系统正周期解存在的充分条件。

Prey preference of the common long-armed octopus Octopus minor(Cephalopoda: Octopodidae) on three different species of bivalves

Octopus minor is widely distributed along the northern coast of China. To date, there is little information on the prey selection process of this species. To understand this process, several experiments were carried out. Three types of bivalves, namely, Ruditapes philippinarum , Mactra chinensis , and Mytilus galloprovincialis , were used to observe the prey selection of O . minor and to analyze the potential causes of prey selection from three aspects: prey profi tability, adductor muscle tension and handling time. Under single-prey conditions, we found that the average (±SD) predation rates of O . minor on R . philippinarum , M . chinensis , and M . galloprovincialis were 1.73±0.50, 1.27±0.42, and 0.8±0.2/d, respectively. Under diff erent prey combinations, octopods actively selected one type of prey over the other(s), and the order of prey preference was R . philippinarum , followed by M . chinensis and lastly M. galloprovincialis . Furthermore, the shells of the consumed prey showed that O . minor only consumed bivalves by pulling them apart since there was no evidence of drill holes on the shells. The prey selection of O . minor was related to the prey profi tability and handling time;O . minor appeared to select preys with a higher profi tability and a shorter handling time. However, the diffi culty in opening the bivalve was not consistent with the prey preference of the octopods. These results suggest that O . minor prefers to consume R . philippinarum possibly due to a high profi tability and a short handling time that supports the optimum Foraging Theory.

一类含扩散与时滞的Prey-Predator模型的周期解

利用上下解方法以及比较原理研究了一类含扩散与时滞的Prey-Predator模型,证明在一定条件下该模型的零平衡态及半平凡周期解的全局稳定性,并获得了这个系统具有一对周期拟解的充分条件.对任意的非负初值函数,这一对周期拟解构成的区间是此系统的一个吸引子.

NONLINEAR SINGULARLY PERTURBED PREDATOR-PREY REACTION DIFFUSION SYSTEMS

A class of nonlinear predator prey reaction diffusion systems for singularly pe rturbed problems are considered.Under suitable conditions, by using theory of di fferential inequalities the existence and asymptotic behavior of solution for in itial boundary value problems are studied.

The Global Stability of Predator-Prey System of Gause-Type with Holling Ⅲ Functional Response

This paper deals with the questio n of global stability of the positive locally asymptotically stable equilibrium in a class of predator\|prey system of Gause\|typ e with Holling Ⅲ functional response. The Dulac's criterion is applied and lia punov functions are constructed to establish the global stability.

Park size and prey density limit occurrence of Eurasian Sparrowhawks in urban parks during winter

Background: Eurasian Sparrowhawks(Accipiter nisus) increasingly represent successful city-dwellers. Thereby, a rich food supply indicated by high numbers of small birds is believed to be the key driver for this bird-eating raptor species to settle in urban environments. However, as small passerine birds show particularly strong antipredator responses, sparrowhawks may not simply focus on patches of highest prey densities, but rather respond strategically to prey behavior, raising the importance of other parameters in determining the occurrence within urban landscapes.Methods: To deepen our knowledge on habitat requirements of urban sparrowhawks, bird surveys were carried out during winter between December 2005 and January 2017 in 36 city parks in Vienna, Austria. Besides food supply also park size, canopy heterogeneity and the connectivity with other green spaces were considered.Results: Occurrence of sparrowhawks was positively affected by increasing park size, prey density and the interaction between both. Bird feeder density and park connectivity with other green spaces were of minor importance in explaining the presence of this species. Canopy heterogeneity didn't affect city park occupancy by Eurasian Sparrowhawks.Conclusions: Our results suggest that large city parks, particularly when characterized by high prey densities, substantially contribute to protect and preserve ecologically important bird species such as raptors within the urban environment—a landscape already struggling with biodiversity losses and functional homogenization.

Stability of the Bifurcation Solutions for a Predator-Prey Model

The bifurcation solution of the nonnegative steady state of a reaction diffusion system was investigated. The combination of the sturm type eigenvalue and the theorem of bifurcation was used to study the local coexistence solutions, and obtain the stability of bifurcation solutions. The system model describes predator prey interaction in an unstirred chemostat.

Can an Invasive Prey Species Induce Morphological and Behavioral Changes in an Endemic Predator? Evidence from a South Korean Snake(Oocatochus rufodorsatus)

Introduction of an invasive prey species into an ecosystem may affect an endemic predator＇s fitness by altering the prey-predator system. Successful adaptation may allow the endemic predator to eat and control the invasive species, while unsuccessful adaptation may result in extinction of the predator. We examine the possible effects of the invasive North American bullfrog （Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana） on the endemic Red-backed rat snake （Oocatochus rufodorsatus） in South Korea. We do so by comparing the morphology and behavior of adult and hatchling snakes from bullfrog-exposed （Taean） and bullfrog-unexposed （Hongcheon） populations. Among the seven morphological characteristics investigated, relative tail length （tail length/snout-vent length） of both adults and hatchlings from Taean was significantly greater than that of adults and hatchlings from Hongcheon. Also, adult snakes from Taean had a signiifcantly shorter latency of ifrst tongue lfick in response to prey compared to adults from Hongcheon. This difference was not observed in hatchlings. In other snake species, a longer relative tail length and shorter latency of ifrst tongue lfick are known to improve foraging efifciency, and these characters may be adaptations ofO. rufodorsatus to prey on bullfrogs. This study provides preliminary evidence that the presence of an invasive prey species may cause morphological and behavioral changes in an endemic predator.

The Effects of Prey Items Diversity and Digestible Materials in Stomach on Digestive Tract Length in Hylarana guentheri

Difference in environmental condition shapes variation in digestive tract length in evolutionary process.In particular,environmental difference results in variation in food resource among different habitats,and thereby affecting energy intake and energy allocation.The digestive theory predicts that animals foraging high indigestible materials of stomach contents can promote the increased gut dimensions.Here,we studied variation in digestive tract and gut length across six Hylarana guentheri populations at different altitudes and latitudes to test the prediction of the digestive theory.We found that altitude and latitude did not affect variation in relative size of digestive tract and gut among populations.We also found that relative size of digestive tract and gut did not be correlated with diversity of prey items,but negatively correlated with proportion of digestible materials.Our findings suggest that individuals foraging less digestible materials display relatively longer digestive tract than individuals foraging more digestible materials.

A CONDITION OF THE EXISTENCE OF STABLE POSITIVE STEADY-STATE SOLUTIONS FOR A ONE PREDATOR TWO PREY SYSTEM

One predator two prey system is a research topic which has both the theoretical and practical values. This paper provides a natural condition of the existence of stable positive steady-state solutions for the one predator two prey system. Under this condition we study the existence of the positive steady-state solutions at vicinity of the triple eigenvalue by implicit function theorem, discuss the positive stable solution problem bifurcated from the semi-trivial solutions containing two positive components with the help of bifurcation and perturbation methods.

Bifurcation and Limit Cycle of a Ratio-dependent Predator-prey, System with Refuge on Prey

Influences of prey refuge on the dynamics of a predator-prey model with ratio-dependent functional response are investigated. The local and global stability of positive equilibrium of the system are considered. Theoretical analysis indicates that constant refuge leads to the system undergo supercritical Hopf bifurcation twice with the birth rate of prey species changing continuously.

Abundance and prey capture success of Common Terns(Sterna hirundo)and Pied Kingfishers(Ceryle rudis)in relation to water clarity in south-east coastal Ghana

Background: Water clarity may negatively influence rate of plunge diving and prey capture success of piscivorous plunge-diving birds, and therefore has implications for their conservation in polluted urban wetlands. We studied the relationship between water clarity and the abundance and prey capture success of Pied Kingfishers(Ceryle rudis) and Common Terns(Sterna hirundo) in two polluted coastal waters of south-east Ghana—the Weija Lake and Densu Delta Ramsar Site.Methods: On each wetland, data on abundance and prey capture success of plunge-divers were collected in four spatio-temporal quadrats of 100 m × 100 m and analysed with concurrent measurements of water quality parameters using GLM regression with Pearson's correlation coefficients.Results: Mean prey capture success of Pied Kingfishers(34.7 e two species responded differently to water clarity. The± 13.1%) and Common Terns(35.3 abundance of Common Terns was± 11.0%) were similar but th significantly higher in less transparent/more turbid water while that of Pied Kingfishers showed no significant relationship with turbidity and transparency. In contrast, the prey capture success of Common Terns was neither related to transparency nor turbidity, as opposed to that of Pied Kingfishers which was significantly higher in more turbid/less transparent waters. Correlations between capture success and bird abundance, as well as capture attempts were insignificant, suggesting that increased fish abundance associated with cloudy water may not necessarily promote higher abundance and capture success of foraging birds. Thus, when foraging in less transparent water, capture success may depend more on predator avoidance by fish prey than lower prey detectability of foraging birds.Conclusion: Within a gradient of 15–51 cm transparency studied, lower water clarity did not constrain prey capture success of Common Terns and Pied Kingfishers. Further studies on the foraging ecology of plunge-divers in coastal Ghana are however required to make firm conclusions on the relationship between water clarity and foraging birds and fish prey abundances, as well as capture success.

Inter-individual variation in provisioning rate,prey size and number,and links to total prey biomass delivered to nestlings in the Collared Flycatcher(Ficedula albicollis)

Background:In bird species where offspring growth and survival rely on parents’food provisioning,parents can maximise their fitness by increasing the quantity and/or the quality of preys delivered to their offspring.Many studies have focused on inter-individual variation in feeding rate,yet this measure may not accurately reflect the total amount of food(i.e.energy)provided by parents if there is large variation in the quantity and quality of preys at each feeding.Here,we explored the relative role of individual(sex,age,body condition),breeding(hatching date,brood size)and environmental(temperature)factors on feeding rate,prey number,size and quality,and their contribution to total prey biomass delivered to the nestlings of 164 Collared Flycatcher(Ficedula albicollis)parents in 98 nests.Results:Preys delivered to the nest were mainly larvae(53.6%)and flying insects(45.6%).Feeding rate increased with brood size and age,and was higher in males than females.Mean prey number decreased,but mean prey size increased,as the season progressed and parents feeding their brood with primary larvae brought more preys per visit.Relationships between feeding rate,mean prey number and size remained when taking into account the provision-ing quality:parents brought either a large number of small prey or a small number of larger items,and the force of the trade-offs between feeding rate and mean prey number and size depended on the quality of the provisioning of the parents.Whatever the percentage of larvae among preys in the provisioning,the variance in total prey biomass was foremost explained by feeding rate(65.1%to 76.6%)compared to mean prey number(16.4%to 26%)and prey size(2.7%to 4%).Conclusions:Our study shows that variation in feeding rate,prey number,size,but not quality(i.e.percentage of lar-vae),were influenced by individual factors(sex and age)and breeding decisions(brood size and timing of breeding)and that,whatever the provisioning strategy adopted,feeding rate was the best proxy of the total biomass delivered to the nestlings.

Prey Predator Fishery Model with Stage Structure in Two Patchy Marine Aquatic Environment

In this paper, we propose and analyze a mathematical model to study the dynamics of a fishery resource system with stage structure in an aquatic environment that consists of two zones namely unreserved zone (fishing permitted) and reserved zone (fishing is strictly prohibited). In this model we introduce a stage structure in which predators are split into two kinds as immature predators and mature predators. It is assumed that immature predators cannot catch the prey and their foods are given by their parents (mature predators). It is also assumed that the fishing of immature predators prohibited in the unreserved zone and predator species are not allowed to enter inside the reserved zone. The local and global stability analysis has been specified. Biological and Bionomical equilibriums of the system are derived. Mathematical formulation of the optimal harvesting policy is given and its solution is derived in the equilibrium case by using Pontryagin’s maximum principle.

Turing Instability of Diffusive Predator⁃Prey System with Gompertz Growth

This paper mainly focus on the research of a predator⁃prey system with Gompertz growth of prey.When the system does not contain diffusion,the stability conditions of positive equilibrium and the occurring condition of the Hopf bifurcation are obtained.When the diffusion term of the system appears,the stable conditions of positive equilibrium and the Turing instability condition are also obtained.Turing instability is induced by the diffusion term through theoretical analysis.Thus,the region of parameters in which Turing instability occurs is presented.Then the amplitude equations are derived by the multiple scale method.The results will enrich the pattern dynamics in predator⁃prey systems.

Antennal epicuticular structure of camel crickets (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) for identifying the prey of Mustella sibrica Pallas

Camel crickets (Orthoptera: Rhaphidophoridae) are a group of wingless and humpbacked Orthopteran insects. They are closed relatives to katydids and crickets;they were called spider crickets somewhere because of their long legs. Camel cricket plays an important role in the food web in various ecosystems. In the forest ecosystem, they live in the ground level of forestry under litters and fallen leaves, and some of them live beneath the log and hid themselves under loosen tree barks. They feed on decomposing organic substances and serve as decomposers in the food chain. It is a very common insect prey to insectivorous animals in natural and artificial vegetation. Guandaushi (GDS) is the experimental forest station of National Chung Hsing University, as the study site of long term ecological research (LTER) in Taiwan. And the camel cricket became an important subject and a dominant insect group in the LTER studies. They are the major parts of the insect preys of vertebrates, especially to the insectivorous mammals. According to our previous publication, 32.2% of the insect preys of Mustela sibirica Pallas are camel crickets in GDS forest ecosystem. There were 5 morpho-species of camel crickets by the characters of antennal epicuticular characters. The camel cricket was collected from various ways according to the LTER study during 1995-1998. The morphology of antennal epicuticular structure from totally 60 individuals was observed by using SEM. The epicuticular sculpture was described and classified into Type I and Type II by the SEM photographs. Type I has 8 patterns and Type II has 5 patterns in this study. The illustration and the pictorial key were provided here as the tool for further application. The morpho-species could not be identified due to the remainder being fragmented while examined. After the study, the SEM antennal epicuticular structures were classified and identified based upon the antennae sample of the morphospecies from the specimens of the 5 camel crickets which were collected from GDS forest ecosystem in this study. This is a part of the fundamental study for the protocol of ecosystem study. The protocol for identifying the insectivorous animal’s prey by the insect fragment of food remainders is necessary. One more, there were 7 of the 13 patterns of antennal epicuticular structure applied to analysis the 5 morpho-species provided as the case study for taxonomy.

Predator Population Dynamics Involving Exponential Integral Function When Prey Follows Gompertz Model

The current study investigates the predator-prey problem with assumptions that interaction of predation has a little or no effect on prey population growth and the prey’s grow rate is time dependent. The prey is assumed to follow the Gompertz growth model and the respective predator growth function is constructed by solving ordinary differential equations. The results show that the predator population model is found to be a function of the well known exponential integral function. The solution is also given in Taylor’s series. Simulation study shows that the predator population size eventually converges either to a finite positive limit or zero or diverges to positive infinity. Under certain conditions, the predator population converges to the asymptotic limit of the prey model. More results are included in the paper.