Cooperation In Hunting Research Articles

Stability and Turing Patterns in a Predator–Prey Model with Hunting Cooperation and Allee Effect in Prey Population

In this paper, we are concerned with a diffusive predator–prey model where the functional response follows the predator cooperation in hunting and the growth of the prey obeys the Allee effect. Firstly, the existence and stability of the positive equilibrium are explicitly determined by the local system parameters. It is shown that the ability of the hunting cooperation can affect the existence of the positive equilibrium and stability, and the intrinsic growth rate of the predator population does not affect the existence of the positive equilibrium, but affects the stability. Then the diffusion-driven Turing instability is investigated and the Turing bifurcation value is obtained, and we conclude that when the ability of the cooperation in hunting is weaker than some critical value, there is no Turing instability. The standard weakly nonlinear analysis method is employed to derive the amplitude equations of the Turing bifurcation, which is used to predict the types of the spatial patterns. And it is found that in the Turing instability region, with the parameter changing from approaching Turing bifurcation value to approaching Hopf bifurcation value, spatial patterns emerge from spot, spot-stripe to stripe. Finally, the numerical simulations are used to support the analytical results.

Effect of hunting cooperation and fear in a predator-prey model

Dynamics of predator-prey systems under the influence of cooperative hunting among predators and the fear thus imposed on the prey population is of great importance from ecological point of view. The role of hunting cooperation and the fear effect in the predator-prey system is gaining considerable attention by the researchers recently. But the study on combined effect of hunting cooperation and fear in the predator-prey system is not yet studied. In the present paper, we investigate the impact of hunting cooperation among predators and predator induced fear in prey population by using the classical predator-prey model. We consider that predator populations cooperate during hunting. We also consider that hunting cooperation induces fear among prey, which has far richer and complex dynamics. We observe that without hunting cooperation, the unique coexistence equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable. However, an increase in the hunting cooperation induced fear may destabilize the system and produce periodic solution via Hopf-bifurcation. The stability of the Hopf-bifurcating periodic solution is obtained by computing the Lyapunov coefficient. The limit cycles thus obtained may be supercritical or subcritical. We also observe that the system undergoes the Bogdanov-Takens bifurcation in two-parameter space. Further, we observe that the system exhibits backward bifurcation between predator-free equilibrium and coexisting equilibrium. The system also exhibits two different types of bi-stabilities due to subcritical Hopf-bifurcation (between interior equilibrium and stable limit cycle) and backward bifurcation (between predator-free and interior equilibrium points). Further, we observe strong demographic Allee phenomenon in the system. To visualize the dynamical behavior of the system, extensive numerical experiments are performed by using MATLAB and MATCONT softwares.

Asymptotic behavior of positive solutions to a predator–prey elliptic system with strong hunting cooperation in predators

In predator–prey interactions, predators often collaborate when hunting their prey. We study a predator–prey elliptic system reflecting such a mechanism. Mainly, we obtain the asymptotic behavior of positive solutions to the system when the cooperation effect of the predators is strong.

Post-conflict opponent affiliation reduces victim re-aggression in a family group of captive arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos).

Post-conflict affiliative interactions have been widely investigated in primates but not extensively in other species. Using the Post Conflict-Matched Control (PC-MC) comparison method, this study investigated the patterns of post-conflict opponent affiliation (POA) of a captive family group of 19 arctic wolves (Canis lupus arctos), investigating the correlation with various factors. We found that POAs occurred mainly in the non-feeding context and more often when the victim was dominant and the aggressor subordinate. Furthermore, POAs were more likely to have been initiated by the victim than the aggressor. Victims’ stress related behaviours occurred more in PC than MC periods, and more after high vs. low intensity aggressions but they were not more likely to occur after conflicts between wolves with a stronger social bond and POAs did not reduce their rate of occurrence. Our results showed that re-aggression was twice less frequent when a friendly interaction occurred between the aggressor and the victim, and consistent with this, victims engaged in POAs more often than the aggressor. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that POAs in wolves may have been selected for as a mechanism to avoid conflict escalation, which could lead to social disruption and hence jeopardize cooperative activities. The high relatedness among individuals in the pack and the greater dependence of all members on cooperation in breeding and hunting may reduce the importance of ‘relationship quality’ as a mediating factor of POAs, although dominance relationships, which are directly linked to the risks of further conflicts, do play an important role.

Separatrix reconstruction to identify tipping points in an eco-epidemiological model

Many ecological systems exhibit tipping points such that they suddenly shift from one state to another. These shifts can be devastating from an ecological point of view, and additionally have severe implications for the socio-economic system. They can be caused by overcritical perturbations of the state variables such as external shocks, disease emergence, or species removal. It is therefore important to be able to quantify the tipping points. Here we present a study of the tipping points by considering the basins of attraction of the stable equilibrium points. We address the question of finding the tipping points that lie on the separatrix surface, which partitions the space of system trajectories. We present an algorithm that reconstructs the separatrix by using a Moving Least Squares approximant based on radial basis functions. The algorithm is applied to an eco-epidemiological model of pack hunting predators that suffer disease infection. Our analysis reveals that strong hunting cooperation considerably promotes the survival of predators and renders the predators resilient to perturbations.

Hunting cooperation and Allee effects in predators

Cooperation is a ubiquitous behavior in many biological systems and is well-known for promoting Allee effects. However, few studies have paid attention to mechanisms inducing Allee effects in predators. Here, we focus on hunting cooperation and use a classical predator–prey system for identifying the impact of this mechanism. We add a cooperation term to the attack rate of the predator population, and investigate the equilibrium stability in phase plane and bifurcation diagrams. We show that hunting cooperation can be beneficial to the predator population by increasing the attack rate. We identify a scenario in which hunting cooperation produces Allee effects in predators and allows the latter to persist when the prey population does not sustain them in the absence of hunting cooperation. However, hunting cooperation can turn detrimental to predators when prey density drastically decreases because of increased predation pressure, which in turn decreases the predator intake. Hunting cooperation can also destabilize the system and promote a sudden collapse of the predator population. We generalize the model and prove that demographic Allee effects always occur when (1) the attack rate increases with the predator density, and (2) the functional response increases with the attack rate. We conclude that Allee effects in predators might be more widespread than expected. Mechanisms inducing such effects may strongly influence not only predators, but also the fate of ecosystems involving predators as in biological control programs.

Group size, individual role differentiation and effectiveness of cooperation in a homogeneous group of hunters

The emergence of cooperation in wolf-pack hunting is studied using a simple, homogeneous, particle-based computational model. Wolves and prey are modelled as particles that interact through attractive and repulsive forces. Realistic patterns of wolf aggregation readily emerge in numerical simulations, even though the model includes no explicit wolf-wolf attractive forces, showing that the form of cooperation needed for wolf-pack hunting can take place even among strangers. Simulations are used to obtain the stationary states and equilibria of the wolves and prey system and to characterize their stability. Different geometric configurations for different pack sizes arise. In small packs, the stable configuration is a regular polygon centred on the prey, while in large packs, individual behavioural differentiation occurs and induces the emergence of complex behavioural patterns between privileged positions. Stable configurations of large wolf-packs include travelling and rotating formations, periodic oscillatory behaviours and chaotic group behaviours. These findings suggest a possible mechanism by which larger pack sizes can trigger collective behaviours that lead to the reduction and loss of group hunting effectiveness, thus explaining the observed tendency of hunting success to peak at small pack sizes. They also explain how seemingly complex collective behaviours can emerge from simple rules, among agents that need not have significant cognitive skills or social organization.

Predatory behavior among wild chimpanzees of the mahale mountains

Eighteen predatory and two cannibalistic episodes have been observed among wild chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains. The prey consists mainly of juveniles of medium-sized mammals, six species of which were recorded as prey fauna for the first time in this study. Predatory behavior of Mahale chimpanzees seems more opportunistic and primitive than has ever been observed in the Gombe National Park in terms of capture technique, size of prey, co-operation in hunting, sexual difference in capture frequency, degree of consumption and extent of meat sharing. Cannibalism is an inter-unit-group phenomenon and may be an extension of infanticide, which may function in changing “mother” into “female.”