• Title/Summary/Keyword: Predation

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The Life History and Morphological Changes of Daphnia (D. pulex and D. galeata) Induced by the Larval Damselfly (Cercion sp.) and Fish (Micropterus salmoides) Kairomones (실잠자리 유충과 어류에서 분비된 카이로몬에 의한 물벼룩류의 생활사와 형태변화)

  • La, Geung-Hwan;Jo, Hyo-Nyeo;Choe, Hyeon-Ju;Kim, Hyun-Woo
    • Korean Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.42 no.1
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    • pp.107-114
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    • 2009
  • We investigated the predation behavior of larval damselfly on Daphnia pulex and D. galeata, and compared the life history and morphological defenses in two Daphnia species against larval damselfly and fish kairomones. Larval damselflies showed size-dependent predation behavior and preyed upon smaller daphnids easily regardless light condition. Overall, small D. galeata juveniles were more vulnerable than D. pulex to the larval damselfly predation. D. pulex displayed life history and morphological changes as the anti-predator defenses against larval damselfly as well as large mouth bass, while D. galeata showed the anti-predator defenses to the large mouth bass. Thus, our results revealed that two Daphnia species exhibits different anti-predator defense strategy to increase survivorship.

Portfolio Decision Model based on the Strategic Adjustment Capacity: A Bionic Perspective on Bird Predation and Firm Competition

  • Mao, Chao;Chen, Shou;Liu, Duan
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.7-18
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    • 2015
  • Purpose - This study integrates a corporate competition system with a bird predation system to examine how organizational strategic adjustment capacity influences firm performance. By proving the prominent effects on performance, a financial vector is constructed to represent corporate strategic adjustment results, and an operation capacity vector is constructed, which can be categorized as a parameter for locating birds. All these works help us to propose a new method of investment, the portfolio decision model based on the strategic adjustment capacity. Research design, data, and methodology - Strategic adjustment capacity can be decomposed into three aspects: the organizational learning capacity from the top firms, the extent to which firms maintainor rely on the best operational capacity vector in history, and the ability to eliminate the disadvantages or retain the advantages of the operation capacity vector from the previous year. The method of solving cyclic equations is designed to evaluate strategic adjustment. Firms manufacturing specialized equipment are chosen to test the effects of the strategic adjustment capacity on three aspects of firm performance. Results - There is a positive correlation between the capacity to learn from the best firms and performance improvement. The relationship between the dependence or maintenance of a firm's advantages and performance improvement is a U-shape curve, and there is no significant effect of inertial control on performance improvement. Conclusions - A firm's competition system is a sophisticated adaptation, and competitive advantage and performance can be investigated based on the principles of competition in nature.

Predation Efficiency and Preference of the Hydrophilid Water Beetle Hydrochara affinis (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) Larvae on Two Mosquitos Culex pipiens molestus and Ochlerotatus togoi under Laboratory Conditions (잔물땡땡이(Hydrochara affinis: Hydrophilidae, Coleoptera) 유충의 모기 2종(Culex pipiens molestus 및 Ochlerotatus togoi)에 대한 실내조건에서의 섭식효율 및 선호도)

  • Baek, Hak Myeong;Kim, Dong Gun;Baek, Min Jeong;Lee, Cha Young;Kang, Hyo Jeong;Kim, Myeong Chul;Yoo, Jae Seung;Bae, Yeon Jae
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.32 no.2
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    • pp.112-117
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    • 2014
  • Predation efficiency and preference of the hydrophilid water beetle, Hydrochara affinis (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae), larvae on two mosquito species, Culex pipiens molestus and Ochlerotatus togoi, were tested under laboratory conditions. Experiments were conducted in a transparent cylindrical plastic container (diameter, 100 mm; height, 40 mm; water level, 15 mm) for 24 hours (16 h, light; 8 h, dark) at $25^{\circ}C$. The predation efficiency of H. affinis on mosquito larvae was investigated under various prey conditions (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 larvae) with five replicates. Further, in order to investigate the prey preference on two mosquito species, each 32 larvae of C. pipiens molestus and O. togoi were provided simultaneously for the first instar larva of H. affinis with 5 replicates. As a result, the predation curves of H. affinis on two mosquito species were logarithmic; and the number of consumed prey increased as the number of predator instars were increased. As predicted from the predation curves, the estimated maximum number of C. pipiens molestus and O. togoi consumed by a third instar larva of H. affinis per a day was 926 and 304 larvae, respectively. As predicted from the Holling's disk equation, the differences in consumed prey number between predator instars and prey species were caused by handling time rather than attack rate. Handling time decreased rapidly as the predator larvae grew, and that of O. togoi was twice longer than that of C. pipiens molestus.

Comparison of Food Habits between the Two Populations of the Fire-Bellied Toad, Bombina orientalis, in Korea (한국산 무당개구리 두 개체군의 먹이 습성 비교)

  • Ko, Young-Min;Chang, Min-Ho;Oh, Hong-Shik
    • Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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    • v.21 no.6
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    • pp.461-467
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    • 2007
  • The research on food habits of the Fire-bellied toad, Bombina orientalis, distributed in Korea was done targeting a total of 487 individuals in 4 inland areas and 8 areas of Jeju island from April 1990 to September 1992. The survey results showed that there was no difference In the number of the preys of the Korean Fire-bellied per individual between the inland areas and Jeju island and the toad preyed on 1 to 3 individuals on an average, but there happened a case where some Fire-bellied toads in Jeju preyed on as much as 94 individuals. There were 13 orders surveyed in the kinds of prey of the Fire-bellied toad inland, and 10 in Jeju island with a high predation frequency and the number of the preyed individuals of Coleoptera and Hymenoptera. The predation frequency of the two populations was similar in terms of prey taxa, but there appealed a different aspect in the number of the individuals by prey taxa. In short, the inland population of Fire-bellied toad was found to eat more various sorts of preys, not satisfied with limited sorts of preys in comparison with the Jeju toad. There appeared a difference in eating habits by month between the two populations; the feeding duration of the inland population was from May to October, but the Jeju population was from April to September. Among the kinds of prey taxa, Coleoptera and Hymenoptera were equally distributed to the two populations of Korean Fire-bellied toad for this research purpose during the survey period. The number of orders, predation frequency and the number of the prey taxa by one population prey were rather higher in the summer. Therefore, it is concluded that the most active period of predation of the Korean Fire-bellied toad is summer.

Dynamic Limit and Predatory Pricing Under Uncertainty (불확실성하(不確實性下)의 동태적(動態的) 진입제한(進入制限) 및 약탈가격(掠奪價格) 책정(策定))

  • Yoo, Yoon-ha
    • KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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    • v.13 no.1
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    • pp.151-166
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    • 1991
  • In this paper, a simple game-theoretic entry deterrence model is developed that integrates both limit pricing and predatory pricing. While there have been extensive studies which have dealt with predation and limit pricing separately, no study so far has analyzed these closely related practices in a unified framework. Treating each practice as if it were an independent phenomenon is, of course, an analytical necessity to abstract from complex realities. However, welfare analysis based on such a model may give misleading policy implications. By analyzing limit and predatory pricing within a single framework, this paper attempts to shed some light on the effects of interactions between these two frequently cited tactics of entry deterrence. Another distinctive feature of the paper is that limit and predatory pricing emerge, in equilibrium, as rational, profit maximizing strategies in the model. Until recently, the only conclusion from formal analyses of predatory pricing was that predation is unlikely to take place if every economic agent is assumed to be rational. This conclusion rests upon the argument that predation is costly; that is, it inflicts more losses upon the predator than upon the rival producer, and, therefore, is unlikely to succeed in driving out the rival, who understands that the price cutting, if it ever takes place, must be temporary. Recently several attempts have been made to overcome this modelling difficulty by Kreps and Wilson, Milgram and Roberts, Benoit, Fudenberg and Tirole, and Roberts. With the exception of Roberts, however, these studies, though successful in preserving the rationality of players, still share one serious weakness in that they resort to ad hoc, external constraints in order to generate profit maximizing predation. The present paper uses a highly stylized model of Cournot duopoly and derives the equilibrium predatory strategy without invoking external constraints except the assumption of asymmetrically distributed information. The underlying intuition behind the model can be summarized as follows. Imagine a firm that is considering entry into a monopolist's market but is uncertain about the incumbent firm's cost structure. If the monopolist has low cost, the rival would rather not enter because it would be difficult to compete with an efficient, low-cost firm. If the monopolist has high costs, however, the rival will definitely enter the market because it can make positive profits. In this situation, if the incumbent firm unwittingly produces its monopoly output, the entrant can infer the nature of the monopolist's cost by observing the monopolist's price. Knowing this, the high cost monopolist increases its output level up to what would have been produced by a low cost firm in an effort to conceal its cost condition. This constitutes limit pricing. The same logic applies when there is a rival competitor in the market. Producing a high cost duopoly output is self-revealing and thus to be avoided. Therefore, the firm chooses to produce the low cost duopoly output, consequently inflicting losses to the entrant or rival producer, thus acting in a predatory manner. The policy implications of the analysis are rather mixed. Contrary to the widely accepted hypothesis that predation is, at best, a negative sum game, and thus, a strategy that is unlikely to be played from the outset, this paper concludes that predation can be real occurence by showing that it can arise as an effective profit maximizing strategy. This conclusion alone may imply that the government can play a role in increasing the consumer welfare, say, by banning predation or limit pricing. However, the problem is that it is rather difficult to ascribe any welfare losses to these kinds of entry deterring practices. This difficulty arises from the fact that if the same practices have been adopted by a low cost firm, they could not be called entry-deterring. Moreover, the high cost incumbent in the model is doing exactly what the low cost firm would have done to keep the market to itself. All in all, this paper suggests that a government injunction of limit and predatory pricing should be applied with great care, evaluating each case on its own basis. Hasty generalization may work to the detriment, rather than the enhancement of consumer welfare.

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Life History of Rana temporaria dybowskii in Korea (한국산 북방산개구리의 발생과정)

  • 윤일병;김종인;양서영
    • Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.401-405
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    • 1999
  • Comprehensive collecting survey were performed fer study on ovipositioning habits and developmental process of Rana temporaria dybowskii from mid February 1998 to late May 1998 from Kyunggi-do, Kangwon-do and other areas in South Korea. Oviposition occurred in both running water and pool between late February and late May. In lotic habitat, they laid egg mass in irregularly ball shaped, and eggs were sticked to substrates such as stone or macrophytes. On contrary, in the pool, they laid an oval shaped egg mass not sticked to any other substrates. Every egg was hatched at day 7, and all developmental processes were completed at days 71 after oviposition. Developmental process of this species was relatively short, and this may increase predation activities during abundant prey season.

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Effects of the Loess Coating on Seed Germination and Seedling Growths of the Eelgrass, Zostera marina

  • Park, Jung-Im;Lee, Kun-Seop
    • ALGAE
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.141-146
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    • 2007
  • Seagrass bed is an important component in coastal and estuarine ecosystems, providing food and habitats to a wide variety of marine organisms. Recently, seagrass coverage has declined significantly due to anthropogenic impacts such as cultural eutrophication and reclamation, and thus efforts are under way to prevent further losses and restore disturbed seagrass habitats worldwide. Seagrass transplantation techniques for habitat restoration include vegetative and seed-based methods. Seagrass seeds can be collected easily, and sowing seeds is an economically effective method for large-scale restoration. However, large numbers of seed can be lost by seed predation and physical disturbance in the planting areas. In the present study, Zostera marina seeds were coated with loess to reduce seed loss by predation and sweeping away by the water currents, and germination rates of coated seeds and seedling growth were examined to assess the feasibility of the seed-coating method for large-scale restoration. Germination rate of the coated seeds with loess was significantly higher than that of the uncoated seeds. Additionally, seedling growths were not significantly different between the coated and the uncoated seeds. These results suggest that coating of eelgrass seeds with loess enhances success of seed germintion with no harmful effects on seedling growth. Therefore, the seed coating method using loess may be an effective and applicable seedbased transplanting technique for large-scale restoration.

Effects of Fish on the Grazing Pressure of Zooplankton in the Artificial Mesocosms (인공메소코즘에서 동물플랑크톤의 섭식압에 대한 어류의 영향)

  • Im, Ji Hyeok;Son, Se-Hwan;Kim, Jin Young;Oh, Min Woo;Nam, Gui-Sook;Song, Younghee;Lee, Ok-Min;Kong, Dongsoo
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.27 no.6
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    • pp.776-783
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    • 2011
  • In a natural water body, a useful ecotechnology to reduce standing crops of phytoplankton is to strengthen the top-down force of zooplankton. However, the predation of fish for zooplankton can make the force weak. This study was conducted to find out the effect of fish on the grazing pressure of zooplankton in the mesocosms established in a eutrophic stream (Kyongan Stream) from October to November in 2010. In the corral with fish, chlorophyll a concentration increased, and a small size cladoceran Bosmina longirostris was dominant. In the corral without fish, chlorophyll a concentration decreased along with the domination of a large cladoceran Daphnia galeata and a large copepod Eudiaptomus japonicus. The size-selective predation of fish appeared to miniaturize the zooplankton community, to narrow their food-size spectrum, and to weaken the top-down force.

Predation of the Japanese keelback (Hebius vibakari Boie, 1826) by the Slender racer (Orientocoluber spinalis Peters, 1866)

  • Park, Il-Kook;Park, Jaejin;Park, Jiho;Min, Seong-Hun;Grajal-Puche, Alejandro;Park, Daesik
    • Journal of Ecology and Environment
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    • v.45 no.4
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    • pp.170-173
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    • 2021
  • Background: The Slender racer (Orientocoluber spinalis Peters, 1866) has recently been reclassified to the new genus Orientocoluber from Hierophis. Ecological knowledge of this species is limited due to its highly mobile behavior. On 17 July 2020, we captured a female O. spinalis on Oeyeon Island, Boryeong-si, Republic of Korea, and collected its feces for a diet analysis. We observed snake scales from the collected feces and subsequently determined the prey species through morphological and molecular methods. Results: We initially hypothesized that the extracted fecal sample scales belonged to H. vibakari, due to their thin keel and rhombus shape. We also amplified H. vibakari DNA from the extracted fecal sample using Illumina sequencing methods. Our morphological and molecular results suggest that O. spinalis predates H. vibakari on Oeyeon Island. Conclusion: This is the first report of O. spinalis predating another snake species, ophiophagy, and implies that H. vibakari may be a crucial prey item for O. spinalis on Oeyeon Island.

Predation, Feeding Preference of Threadsail Filefish Stephanolepis cirrhifer on Different Life Stages of Moon Jellyfish Aurelia aurita s.l. in the Laboratory (전 생활사 단계의 보름달물해파리(Aurelia aurita s.l.)에 대한 쥐치(Stephanolepis cirrhifer)의 포식과 먹이 선호도 실험)

  • Lee, Hye-Eun;Han, Chang-Hoon;Lee, Hye-Hyun;Yoon, Won-Duk
    • The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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    • v.20 no.1
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    • pp.36-42
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    • 2015
  • To determine the predation rate of threadsail filefish, we conducted feeding experiment of threadsail filefish, Stephanolepis cirrhifer on different life stages (medusae, ephyrae, and polyps) of Aurelia aurita s.l. in the laboratory. All size groups of threadsail filefish actively preyed on moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita s.l. and predation rate was proportional to the wet weight of threadsail filefish. Average wet weight 0.5, 1, 2.2 g of threadsail filefish preyed on average $0.77{\pm}0.51g\;fish^{-1}h^{-1}$ of medusae. Average wet weight 150 and 344 g of threadsail filefish preyed on $9.26{\pm}1.61$ and $15.89{\pm}3.67g\;fish^{-1}h^{-1}$ of medusae respectively. In ephyrae and polyps, average wet weight 3.7 g of juvenile of threadsail filefish preyed on 100 ephyrae within 10 minutes and average wet weight 2.2 g of juvenile of threadsail filefish preyed on $5.73{\pm}0.59$ polyps $g^{-1}$ of fish $h^{-1}$. Whereas adults of threadsail filefish did not prey on polyps. In feeding preference experiments to elucidate whether threadsail filefish prey on moon jellyfish in the sea, adults of threadsail filefish preyed on mostly oysters (ca. 60%) and polychaetes (ca. 80%). Medusae were consumed only 2% of total. However, juvenile of threadsail filefish preyed on ephyrae and polyps as well as mysid shrimps. Besides, polyps were consistently consumed during the experiment. Although juvenile of threadsail filefish consumed all kinds of prey, they ceased feeding at temperatures below $11^{\circ}C$, which suggests that possibility of predation on ephyrae may be very low in the sea because ephyrae are released at low temperatures below $11^{\circ}C$ from March to April. Whereas polyps are inhabitable in all seasons in Korean coastal waters, juvenile of threadsail filefish may prey on polyps in the sea. These results suggest that removing moon jellyfish at polyp stage by using juvenile of threadsail filefish is the most effective way for extermination of moon jellyfish.