A team of ecologists at Princeton University are exploring predator-prey interactions –and how predators will affect biodiversity and ecosystems — by exploring the behavior of the prey. The researchers traveled to a small island in the Bahamas and studied three different lizard species. They were able to manipulate the ecosystem to try and answer questions about the ways in which prey change their behavior to avoid getting eaten — which can be a very hard thing to predict. The findings seek to help ecologists understand how predators change — and potentially devastate — ecosystems.
Princeton is a member of NYSERNet. Read more about the study here: https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=298706&WT.mc_id=USNSF_1