Journal
ECOLOGY
Volume 88, Issue 10, Pages 2555-2562Publisher
ECOLOGICAL SOC AMER
DOI: 10.1890/06-1381.1
Keywords
anti-predator behavior; density-mediated indirect effect; indirect interaction; interaction strength; nonconsumptive effect; trait mediated interaction; tri-trophic system
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Trait- and density-mediated indirect effects describe different pathways by which indirect interactions in food webs are propagated from one species to another, through changes in intermediate species. A series of articles in Ecology has progressively altered the original definitions of trait-mediated'' to the point where understanding is being impeded. The most recent of these articles are two meta-analyses that use trait-mediated'' to describe the demographic costs to a prey species of employing anti-predator defenses. These same articles introduce a companion term, density-mediated interaction,'' apparently to describe direct and indirect interactions that only involve changes in population density due to consumption by predators. This new terminology has many disadvantages, including ( 1) using a general term for a relatively narrow group of processes; ( 2) using mediated'' in a manner inconsistent with existing terminology; ( 3) confusing the accepted definitions of different types of indirect effects; and ( 4) providing a highly incomplete measure of the impact of behavior on the predator - prey interaction. Solutions to these problems and the meaning of the meta-analyses are discussed.
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