Do Urban Habitats Act As Refuges From Predators?
Thursday, November 17, 2011 - 09:30
in Biology & Nature
There have been many theories proposed to explain why some species do so well in human-disturbed areas. One of these is the "predator refuge hypothesis," which states that urban species thrive because they are released from predation pressures that they would ordinarily face in the wild. This may occur as a result of fewer predators, a different mixture of "strong" predators and those who only occasionally prey on particular species, or a shift in the diets of predators (which, for instance, might begin to prefer easily accessible human food left in dumpsters). read more