Metapopulation - Predation and Oscillations

Predation and Oscillations

The first experiments with predation and spatial heterogeneity were conducted by G.F. Gause in the 1930s, based on the Lotka-Volterra equation, which was formulated in the mid-1920s, but no further application had been conducted. The Lotka-Volterra equation suggested that the relationship between predators and their prey would result in population oscillations over time based on the initial densities of predator and prey. Gause's early experiments to prove the predicted oscillations of this theory failed because the predator-prey interactions were not influenced by immigration. However, once immigration was introduced, the population cycles accurately depicted the oscillations predicted by the Lotka-Volterra equation, with the peaks in prey abundance shifted slightly to the left of the peaks of the predator densities. Huffaker's experiments expanded on those of Gause by examining how both the factors of migration and spatial heterogeneity lead to predator-prey oscillations.