Abstract
The predation rate and selection of specific prey byMysis relicta in Lake Tahoe depends on both the total and the relative densities of prey classes. Functional responses of mysids to changes in the density of two species of calanoid copepod prey were curvilinear in laboratory experiments. In the field and in 2-prey treatments, preference was usually positive forEpischura and negative forDiaptomus. However, the preference forEpischura was greatest at the lowest combined densities of prey in the laboratory and decreased at densities >100Epischura / m3 in the field. Several hypotheses to explain the inverse relationship between selectivity and prey density are discussed. Field assemblages of prey vary vertically, horizontally and seasonally. Potential effects of this hetrogeneity on both predator and prey populations are examined.
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Folt, C.L., Rybock, J.T. & Goldman, C.R. The effect of prey composition and abundance on the predation rate and selectivity ofMysis relicta . Hydrobiologia 93, 133–143 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008106
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00008106