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Group 7
Desert Scorpions
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Introduction
Intraguild predation is a very widespread and important interaction in many systems. It happens when two or more species that make use of similar resources, making them competitors, also also have predator-prey interactions. In the Coachella Valley, California, four scorpion species engage in intraguild predation among themselves. Polis & McCormick (1987) carried out a study on these four scorpion species, and concluded that the most abudant scorpion limited the growth of the others, not through competition, but rather because predation.
Hadrurus arizonensis scorpion
Assignment
Propose a mathematical model for the dynamics of these populations of scorpions. Your model should take into account the findings and hypotheses of Polis & McCormick (1987). Use this model to explore the consequences of this dynamics and advance hypotheses that can be tested in the field or in the laboratory.
Suggested questions
- Can the predator-prey interaction, rather than competition, be the decisive factor for which species is most abundant?
- How does the relevance of the age structure to the intraguild predation interaction affect the system? What about symmetry?
References
- Polis & McCormick (1987) Intraguild Predation and Competition Among Desert Scorpions Ecology 68(2), pp. 332-343 link