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Imperfect optimal foraging and the paradox of enrichment

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Abstract

We show that the paradox of enrichment can be theoretically resolved in a flexible predator–prey system in which the predator practices imperfect optimal foraging. A previous study showed that perfect optimal foraging can mitigate increases in the amplitude of population oscillations associated with enrichment, but it did not show a stabilization pattern. Our results show that imperfect optimal foraging can stabilize the system and resolve the paradox of enrichment under nonequilibrium dynamics. Furthermore, the degree of stabilization with enrichment was stronger when the imperfection of optimal foraging was larger.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. We also thank S. Goshima, Y. Sakurai, and T. Takahashi for their comments on the first version of this manuscript.

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Correspondence to Akihiko Mougi or Kinya Nishimura.

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Mougi, A., Nishimura, K. Imperfect optimal foraging and the paradox of enrichment. Theor Ecol 2, 33–39 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12080-008-0026-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12080-008-0026-0

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