Prey abundance and predator reproduction: rats aand pythons on a tropical Australian floodplain.

From: Ecology | Date: June 1, 1997| Author: | Copyright information

A 5-yr field study examined the ways in which prey abundance can influence the reproductive rates of predators. Water pythons (Liasis fuscus) on the Adelaide River floodplain in tropical Australia prey almost exclusively on dusky rats (Rattus colletti). Rat numbers varied dramatically among years of the study. Feeding rates of pythons were highest when rats were abundant, and the snakes were in good condition (mass relative to body length) at these times. The proportion of adult female pythons that reproduced in a given year was also tightly linked to rat abundances. However, reproductive ...

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