predation pressure

noun

Ecology.

1. the effect of predation upon a population, resulting in the decrease in size of that population.

Word History and Origins

Origin of predation pressure¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

"With age comes a greater risk of death. With poor social integration and fewer partners close by comes a greater risk of death, especially under natural predation pressure. This simple fact means that changes in social integration with age are partially confounded by the greater likelihood that individuals who reach old age will be exceptionally well-connected socially, because the less well-connected have already died, a phenomenon called selective disappearance," explains Prof. Julia Ostner, head of the Social Evolution in Primates Group and senior author of the study.

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“With increased ability to digest its food, it could have gone for longer without needing to hunt. This means less predation pressure on other marine creatures,” Sternes said.

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"Our results indicate that relaxed predation pressure is key to warning signal variation in this species, whereas stronger pressure leads to signal conformity and stronger signals," said Professor Caro.

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Each case seems to have been distinct—predation pressure may have led to the evolution of increased growth rates in one instance, resource abundance could have allowed for extended growth seasons in another—and will require a lot more study to solve.

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The control effort, to which Western Australia’s baiting program belongs, was meant to ease the predation pressure that cats exerted in every corner of the country where they had settled.

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