Abstract
Interfering predators have a feeding rate (functional response) which is a decreasing function of their abundance. We propose equations that describe the dynamics of an arbitrary food web with predator interference and study their consequences. In particular we show that, due to interference, some of the trophic links do not effectively exist. Their presence (or absence) depends on the interplay of competition efficiencies and food preferences as well as on species abundances. As a consequence, the effective structure of a food web may vary with time and from one place to another (as competition efficiencies and food preferences vary with seasons and from one place to another) as well as due to an external perturbation (as abundances change). The simplification of the food web structure due to predator interference allows qualitative predictions concerning the response of a food web to an external perturbation.
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