Introduction

Abstract

Eat or be eaten: For many organisms, trophic interactions dominate the day-to-day struggle for genetic perpetuation. Not surprisingly, ecologists have devoted enormous amounts of time and energy to understanding this most fundamental of issues. Much of this work has relied on a dynamical systems approach pioneered by Lotka (1925) and Volterra (1928). The Lotka-Volterra equations were framed in the simplest possible manner, depicting ecological interactions as if they were simply random collisions between predators and their prey or their competitors. Although undeniably simplistic, the Lotka-Volterra approach has been enormously influential in guiding both the theoretical understanding of population dynamics and, to a lesser extent, interpretation of real population data (Kingsland 1985). Real organisms, however, have more complex patterns of resource consumption, movement, and intraspecific aggression—behavioral complications that are all too rarely incorporated into population theory.