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The consumption rate of the crab Panopeus herbstii feeding on the mussel Brachidontes exustus depends on predator and prey body size as well as the predator individual activity level. Photo credit: Kathryn Levasseur. Toscano, B.J. & Griffen,B.D. (2014) Trait‐mediated functional responses: predator behavioural type mediates prey consumption. Journal of Animal Ecology, 83, 1469–1477. While the concept of consistent behavioural differences among individuals of the same population has gained a lot of scientific attention over the last decade, its implementation into a community context with a focus on species‐level interactions is still in its infancy. In their study on the effects of animal personalities on predator–prey functional responses of mussel‐eating crabs, Toscano & Griffen (2014) introduce a promising avenue for future research synthesizing concepts and ideas from animal behaviour and food web ecology. More precisely, by showing that the interplay of animal personalities and predator and prey body sizes significantly alters the outcome of predator–prey interactions, this study provides important evidence that the concept of animal personalities needs greater consideration if we want to refine and improve current models of predator–prey interactions and the impact of individual‐level variation on quantitative food‐web dynamics. This article discusses the paper published in this issue by Toscano & Griffen (2014) who, through synthesizing concepts from animal behaviour and food web ecology, demonstrate the importance of understanding animal personality and the effects of body size on predator–prey interactions. The results of this work will help to improve current models of predator–prey interactions and the impact of individual‐level variation on quantitative food web dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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