THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF PREDATOR PREY THEORY

Predator-prey theory is traced from its origins in the Malthus-Verhulst logistic equation, through the Lotka-Volterra equations, logistic modifications to both prey and predator equations, incorporation of the Michaelis-Menten-Holling functional response into the predator and prey equations, and the recent development of ratio-dependent functional responses and per-capita rate of change functions. Some of the problems of classical predator-prey theory, including the paradoxes of enrichment and biological control, seem to have been caused by the application of the principle of mass action to predator-prey interactions. Predator-prey models that evolved from logistic theory or that incorporate ratio-dependent functional responses do not have these problems and also seem to be more biologically plausible.