Enemy–Victim Interactions

Abstract

Enemy–victim interactions, a.k.a. consumer{resource, or exploitative interactions are among the most dramatic interactions we can witness, whether that interaction is a cheetah chasing down a gazelle, or an osprey diving for a fish. Humans have always had a fascination with predators and death, and ecologists are humans, for the most part. In addition, plants are consumers too, but watching grass take up nitrate and CO2 (i.e., grow) is somewhat less scintillating than tracking wolves across the tundra. Nonetheless, these are both examples of consumer–resource interactions; most competition, by the way, is thought to operate through uptake of shared, limiting resources [120, 200].