Eurasian otters prefer to prey on religious released nonnative fish on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

Religious wildlife release is prevalent worldwide,especially in Asia countries.It is one of the anthropogenic pathways to cause biological inva-sions.Religious fish release is common on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,yet few studies have assessed the influences of religious fish release on local species.InYushu,a city on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau,we interviewedlocal people,conducted fish trap surveys in local rivers,and exam-ined the diet of Eurasian otters Lutra lutra using a fecal DNA metabarcoding approach.We found that fish release started at least in 1980-1990s in Yushu.Tibetan residents released fish in large amounts and released fish were usually exotic commercial fish purchased from market.Despite such long-term and intensive fish release activities,released fish were few in local rivers.On the other hand,Eurasian otters mainly prey on fish and released fish accounted for~20%of relative read abundance of prey DNA in otters'diet,indicating their high preference on released fish.Our study suggested that religious fish release may provide additional food resources for otters,whereas otters,as a top predator in local rivers,may deplete non-native fish once they were released and,therefore,reduce the probability of colonization of released fish,although further studies are required to assess otters'impact.Our study revealed otters'diet in Yushu,providing basic information for local otter management and conservation.Furthermore,it represents a case showing that native predators prey on religious released animals,implying a probable direction forcontrolling invasive species through nativepredator conservation.

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.

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.

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.

Preliminarily study on the maximum handling size, prey size and species selectivity of growth hormone transgenic and non-transgenic common carp Cyprinus carpio when foraging on gastropods

The present study preliminarily examined the differences in maximum handling size, prey size and species selectivity of growth hormone transgenic and non-transgenic common carp Cyprinus carpio when foraging on four gastropods species( Bellamya aeruginosa, Radix auricularia, Parafossarulus sinensis and Alocinma longicornis) under laboratory conditions. In the maximum handling size trial, five fish from each age group(1-year-old and 2-year-old) and each genotype(transgenic and non-transgenic) of common carp were individually allowed to feed on B. aeruginosa with wide shell height range. The results showed that maximum handling size increased linearly with fish length, and there was no significant difference in maximum handling size between the two genotypes. In the size selection trial, three pairs of 2-year-old transgenic and non-transgenic carp were individually allowed to feed on three size groups of B. aeruginosa. The results show that the two genotypes of C. carpio favored the small-sized group over the large-sized group. In the species selection trial, three pairs of 2-year-old transgenic and non-transgenic carp were individually allowed to feed on thin-shelled B. aeruginosa and thick-shelled R. auricularia, and five pairs of 2-year-old transgenic and non-transgenic carp were individually allowed to feed on two gastropods species( P. sinensis and A. longicornis) with similar size and shell strength. The results showed that both genotypes preferred thin-shelled Radix auricularia rather than thick-shelled B. aeruginosa, but there were no significant difference in selectivity between the two genotypes when fed on P. sinensis and A. longicornis. The present study indicates that transgenic and non-transgenic C. carpio show similar selectivity of predation on the size-and species-limited gastropods. While this information may be useful for assessing the environmental risk of transgenic carp, it does not necessarily demonstrate that transgenic common carp might have lesser environmental impacts than non-transgenic carp.

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.

Periodic Solutions of Periodic Delay Predator-Prey System with Nonmonotonic Functional Response

By using the continuation theorem of coincidence degree theory, sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence of positive periodic solutions of a delayed predator prey system with nonmonotonic functional response in a periodic environment.

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).

Field and Laboratory Observations on Predation and Prey Selectivity of the Scyphomedusa Chrysaora cf.caliparea in Southeast Indian Waters

Chrysaora cf.caliparea,one of the most abundant medusae species in India,seems to be an important predator in the coastal waters of Bay of Bengal.The ability of Chrysaora cf.caliparea to feed at maximum rate in high prey concentrations implies that this jellyfish can efficiently exploit dense prey patches,at least for a short period.This study presents preliminary information regarding digestion and feeding rate upon copepods in a warm water environment.The ingestion rate of the average-sized medusae Chrysaora cf.caliparea is well balanced in nature,which in turn implies that this jellyfish is tuned for optimal utilization of available prey resources.Comparison with earlier research indicates that prey escape speed is one important factor governing which prey will be captured.A full understanding of predation mechanics awaits further investigation of both predator and prey behavior.However,because of the scarcity of long-term quantitative population data most insights have to be made indirectly.Nevertheless,low abun-dance of Chrysaora cf.caliparea in the water column during summer (May 2007) and the overall annual abundance seem not to con-siderably affect the zooplankton population,especially copepods.The present work contributes to the knowledge of prey-predator relationship of the forgotten fauna in Indian waters,which is especially crucial for understanding the process of ecological recovery of coastal water environment.

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.

The bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus foraging around a fish farm:Effects of prey abundance on dolphins' behavior

The extent to which prey abundance influences both bottlenose dolphin foraging behavior and group size in the presence of human activities has not previously been studied.The primary aim of this study was to identify and quantify how wild bottlenose dolphins respond,individually and as groups,to the relative abundance of prey around a fish farm.Detailed views of dolphins' behavior were obtained by focal following individual animals whilst simultaneously collecting surface and underwater behavioral data.A total of 2150 dive intervals were analyzed,corresponding to 342 focal samples,lasting over 34 hours.Bottlenose dolphins remained submerged for a mean duration of 46.4 seconds and a maximum of 249 seconds.This study provides the first quantified data on bottlenose dolphin diving behavior in a marine fin-fish farm area.This study's results indicate that within a fish farm area used intensively by bottlenose dolphins for feeding,dolphins did not modify dive duration.Additionally,underwater observations confirmed that dolphins find it easier to exploit a concentrated food source and it appears that hunting tactic and not group size plays an important role during feeding activities.Thus,bottlenose dolphins appear capable of modifying their hunting tactics according to the abundance of prey.When top predators display behavioral responses to activities not directed at them,the task of studying all possible effects of human activities can become even more challenging.

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.

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.

A Leslie-Gower Holling Type-II Predator-Prey Mathematical Model with Disease in Prey Population Incorporating a Prey Refuge

We formulate and analyze a predator-prey model followed by Leslie-Gower model in which the prey population is infected by disease. We assume that the disease can only spread over prey population. As a result prey population has been classified into two categories, namely susceptible prey, infected prey where as the predator population remains free from infection. To investigate the behaviour of prey population we incorporate prey refuge in this model. Since the prey refuge decreases the predation rate then it has an important effect in our predator-prey interaction model. We have discussed the existence of various equilibrium points and local stability analysis at those equilibrium points. We investigate the Hopf-bifurcation analysis about the interior equilibrium point by taking the rate of infection parameter and the prey refuge parameter as bifurcation parameters. The numerical analysis is carried out to support the analytical results and to discuss some interesting results that our model exhibits.

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.