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Hydra Effects In Stable Communities And Their Implications For System Dynamics, Michael H. Cortez, Peter A. Abrams
Hydra Effects In Stable Communities And Their Implications For System Dynamics, Michael H. Cortez, Peter A. Abrams
Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications
A hydra effect occurs when the mean density of a species increases in response to greater mortality. We show that, in a stable multispecies system, a species exhibits a hydra effect only if maintaining that species at its equilibrium density destabilizes the system. The stability of the original system is due to the responses of the hydra-effect species to changes in the other species’ densities. If that dynamical feedback is removed by fixing the density of the hydra-effect species, large changes in the community make-up (including the possibility of species extinction) can occur. This general result has several implications: (1) …