Predator-Prey Dynamics

Lead: Andrew Trites
Co-PIs: Kelly Benoit-Bird, Jackie Grebmeier, Scott Heppell, Chad Jay, Sasha Kitaysky, Kathy Kuletz, Dan Roby, David Sampson

We will undertake a fine-scale study of birds, mammals, and their forage bases to determine the consequences of spatial patterns (patches) on predator-prey dynamics. We will seek to determine how groups of species are controlled -- by fishing, predators, food availability, the physical environment, or a combination of all four.

Predators and prey: what is patch dynamics?

We define “patches” as significant spatial variation in any feature of prey that is important for exploitation by predators. Prey patches may occur at scales of less than 1 m to several kilometers, and may last anywhere from minutes to months. Patches also vary in species composition, biomass, energy content of prey, and distribution (size of patch, density within a patch, density of patches, and distance from colony/rookery).

However, we do not yet know how top predators respond to variability in prey patches (patch dynamics) and the consequence this has on population dynamics of top predators in the Bering Sea. We need this fundamental information to predict how the Bering Sea ecosystem will respond to global warming.