#Prey vs predator how to#

When developing an equation, a mathematician thinks about the world. We fit the original data using mathematical methods, to estimate the values for the growth rate ( r growth), death rate ( r death), eaten rate ( r eaten), and food rate (r food), which we will use to predict the hare and lynx populations. Differential equations can be used to model the populations of lynxes (predators) and hares (prey) using the data from the Hudson Bay Company. A famous mathematician named Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) showed that differential equations could just be written as pluses and minuses, with a bit of multiplication. The equations can sometimes look very complicated, but all they are is a way to describe how and why populations change. They wanted to use mathematics to explain the rise and fall observed in the general predator-prey relationship. The predator-prey relationship was first described using differential equations by two scientists named Lotka and Volterra. Mathematicians use differential equations and data to describe what they see in the world. The question a mathematician asks is, “Can I explain this using addition, subtraction, and multiplication and can I predict the future populations” Explaining The Relationship With Mathematical Models

If the predator and prey populations are balanced, they will go up and down over time, chasing each other in the circle of life. When the lynx population decreases, the hare population increases again, and the up-down cycle continues. When the hare population is low, this means less food for the lynxes and results in a decrease in the lynx population. In Figure 1, can you see that the populations of lynxes and hares fall and rise at around the same time? When there are more lynxes they eat more hares, which decreases the hare population. The rise and fall in the recorded hare and lynx populations over time suggests that there is a relationship between the two animals, which makes sense as we know that lynxes eat hares. (B) The number of lynx pelts collected (in tens of thousands) over time, inferred from Hudson Bay Company data from 1895 to 1935 1.Figure 1 - (A) The number of hare pelts collected (in tens of thousands) over time.The data show that in some years, like 1927, there were more lynxes (predators) but fewer hares (prey), while in other years, like 1932, there were more hares but fewer lynxes. The number of hare or lynx pelts collected tells us about the levels of each animals’ population and can give us a reasonable picture of the predator-prey relationship. Figure 1 shows the company’s data for the number of hare and lynx pelts. The Hudson Bay Company made yearly records of the numbers of snow lynx and snowshoe hare pelts they collected. To model a predator-prey relationship, we will use population data (records of how many animals there are) collected by a company that hunted both the predators and prey for their fur in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In this paper we will show how some basic mathematics, like addition, subtraction, and multiplication, can be used to model the predator-prey relationships seen in the wild.

To make a successful mathematical model, we need to collect data from the environment. Modelling the relationship between predators and prey helps scientists understand how their populations change over time, and it can let scientists know when an animal could be at risk of extinction. Scientists sometimes use mathematics to test theories they have about the animals or even to try to predict the future! This is called mathematical modelling.

#Prey vs predator how to#

Scientists need to collect information so they can understand how to protect the environment and the animals who live there. In this article, we show what the predator-prey relationship looks like over time and explain how scientists can make predictions about future population levels, all using basic mathematics like addition, subtraction, and multiplication. What do you think would happen if a predator were introduced to an ecosystem where the prey previously lived without fear of being hunted? Would the new predator eat all the prey animals until they go extinct? Actually, the relationship between predator and prey is far more interesting than this. Animals who are hunted and eaten are known as prey. Some animals hunt other animals to feed themselves these animals are called predators.