From an Antagonistic to a Synergistic Predator Prey Perspective

From an Antagonistic to a Synergistic Predator Prey Perspective: Bifurcations in Marine Ecosystems

is a groundbreaking reference that challenges the widespread perception that predators generally have a negative impact on the abundance of their prey, and it proposes a novel paradigm — Predator-prey Synergism — in which both predator and prey enhance abundance by their co-existence.

Using this model, the text explains a number of issues that appear paradoxical in the case of a negative predator-prey relationship, including observed ecosystem bifurcations (regime shifts), ecosystem resilience, red tides in apparently nutrient depleted water, and the dominance of grazed phytoplankton over non-grazed species under high grazing pressure.

This novel paradigm can also be used to predict the potential impact of global warming on marine ecosystems, identify how marine ecosystem may respond to gradual environmental changes, and develop possible measures to mitigate the negative impact of increasing temperature in marine ecosystems.

This book approaches the long-standing question of what generates recruitment variability in marine fishes and invertebrates in an engaging and unique way that students and researchers in marine ecosystems will understand.