Detecting Prey Preferences and Prey Switching

Abstract

In this chapter I consider the question of whether predators switch their preference for different types of prey as those prey change in abundance. There are numerous experiments in the literature focusing on this, but generally they have focused on a simplified analysis that ignores the functional response. Here I show why the functional response is crucial for understanding prey choice, and I show that null expectations considering a multi-species functional response lead to different interpretations than standard null expectations. I also derive null expectations for the proportion of prey consumed given the single-species functional response.