Back to: MUN, OSCAbrahams Lab

Jeremy Mitchell

Postdoctoral Research Fellow
(Abrahams Lab)
Ocean Sciences Centre
Memorial University
of Newfoundland

email: jsmitchell@mun.ca
phone: 709-737-3723


Current Research
Recent Work Publications

• habitat influences on animal interactions
• behavioural ecology of group-living


1. Predator-prey interactions and habitat preferences

Mark II picturePredators and their prey can differ in their ability to tolerate a range of environmental conditions. Prey may take advantage of this variation by using habitats that their predators avoid.

In the apparatus to the left, the locations predator and prey individuals can be monitored as they move between interconnected tanks. Water conditions (e.g., turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen) can be manipulated separately in each tank.

Mark Abrahams constructed the original apparatus at the University of Manitoba. This version (the Mark II?) was designed and constructed at the Ocean Sciences Centre by Danny Au, Jim Devereaux, Jerry Ennis, Matt Pittman and Damian Whitten.


applet screencap2. Modeling predator and prey movement rules

Predators should adopt movement rules that maximize the likelihood of encountering prey. Prey should adopt movement rules that minimize the likelihood of those encounters. But the best rule for each depends on the rule being used by the other. And the stable solution for both may depend on how well each can detect the other.


The screen-cap is from a small program that simulates predator and prey movements and tracks encounters under various conditions. We are using the simulations to identify optimal movement rules and determine whether and how those rules differ depending on how far predators and prey can see.