Journal of Animal Ecology

This ‘In Focus’ article highlights the study by Zhao et al., in this issue, which demonstrates how predators can affect plant growth via changes in detrivore behaviour in a detritus food web.

The authors present the first network analysis of wild apes conducted within a framework of evaluating infectious disease risk. Overall, they show striking temporal variation in network structure, and identify traits that predict associations among individuals. This work provides insights into which chimpanzees should be targeted for disease control efforts.

This paper presents unique experimental evidence that sharks can structure ecosystems through risk effects. Specifically, the authors show that tiger sharks indirectly structure seagrass communities by inducing risk-sensitive foraging by sea turtles and sea cows. This work shows that roving predators, in general, can induce behavior-mediated trophic cascades.

Video

The authors provide a succinct review of the basic formulation of foraging ‘currencies’ characterising foraging behaviour, a fundamental issue in foraging theory. Variations are introduced by examining predation, condition, time of day, and ‘damage’ considerations.