Predation
hideIn ecology, predation describes a biological interaction where a predator (an organism that is hunting) feeds on its prey, (the organism that is attacked). Predators may or may not kill their prey prior to feeding on them, but the act of predation always results in the death of the prey. The other main category of consumption is detritivory, the consumption of dead organic material (detritus). It can at times be difficult to separate the two feeding behaviors, for example where parasitic species prey on a host organism and then lay their eggs on it for their offspring to feed on its decaying corpse. The key characteristic of predation however is the predator's direct impact on the prey population. On the other hand, detritivores simply eat what is available and have no direct impact on the "donor" organism(s).
Selective pressures imposed on one another has led to an evolutionary arms race between prey and predator, resulting in various antipredator adaptations.
For more information about Predation, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with predators
Facebook creates online safety board
Dec 07, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Social networking site Facebook on Monday said it is creating a global safety advisory board to protect its users against online predators such as sex offenders.
Facebook, MySpace ban New York sex offenders
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Facebook and MySpace have closed the accounts of 3,533 convicted sex offenders in New York state under a law combating online predators, officials said Tuesday.
Search results for predators
Lizards change their diet to avoid predators
Dec 02, 2009 |
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A scientist from the University of Salamanca and another from Yale University have shown that the presence of predators affects the behaviour of Acanthodactylus beershebensis, a lizard species from the Ne ...
Headwater stream nutrient enrichment disrupts food web
Dec 17, 2009 |
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Human activity is increasing the supply of nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, to stream systems all over the world. The conventional wisdom -- bolstered by earlier research -- has held that these additional nutrients ...
Birds Call to Warn Friends and Enemies
Dec 03, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Birds' alarm calls serve both to alert other birds to danger and to warn off predators. And some birds can pull a ventriloquist's trick, singing from the side of their mouths, according to a UC Davis study.
Rare woodland plant uses 'cryptic coloration' to hide from predators
Nov 25, 2009 |
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It is well known that some animal species use camouflage to hide from predators. Individuals that are able to blend in to their surroundings and avoid being eaten are able to survive longer, reproduce, and ...
Dinosaurs hop, skip and jump into 21st century
Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils
Dec 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Dinosaurs have literally been put through their paces by a new supercomputer, allowing scientists to get closer to understanding how they once moved.
Syntax in our primate cousins
Dec 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A study carried out in Ivory Coast has shown that monkeys of a certain forest-dwelling species called Campbell's monkeys emit six types of alert calls. The primates combine these calls into ...
Fish with attitude: Some like it hot
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Coral reef fish can undergo a personality change in warmer water, according to an intriguing new study suggesting that climate change may make some species more aggressive.
Artificial refuges created to save the reptiles of Doņana
Nov 30, 2009 |
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The Aznalcóllar mining accident more than 11 years ago, which contaminated part of the Doņana National Park, also damaged reptile habitat there. Now a team of Spanish researchers, who have been studying ...
Whiteflies sabotage alarm system of plant in distress
Nov 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- When spider mites attack a bean plant, the plant responds by producing odours which attract predatory mites. These predatory mites then exterminate the spider mite population, thus acting ...
Researcher explains mystery of golden ratio
Dec 21, 2009 |
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The Egyptians supposedly used it to guide the construction the Pyramids. The architecture of ancient Athens is thought to have been based on it. Fictional Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon tried to unravel ...
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