Center for Scientific Studies

Review of "Predator-Prey Dynamics: The Role of Olfaction"

by James A. Huggins, Ph.D., University Professor & Director of the Hammons Center for Scientific Studies

January 18, 2008 - This is one of the more technical books that I have reviewed for this web site but it is a valuable work for anyone that desires to understand the dynamics and the role of olfaction across predator-prey relationships. Conover’s discussion of the importance of the different sensory modalities that are utilized across the animal kingdom for locating food is as instructive to the lay person who wishes to understand why a deer picks him up in a tree stand as it is to the scientist attempting to add the role of olfaction into the equations and models that attempt to define the ecophysiological niches that various animals occupy across habitat types. Additional topics addressed by the author that may be particularly interesting to the aspiring young biologist or naturalist are the concepts of depositional odor trails, odor plumes, odorant sources and emission rates, and optimal hiding and foraging strategies as relate to detection and capture across varying seasonal and environmental conditions.

Conover is quick to point out the interdisciplinary nature of this fascinating relm of biology. Convection, turbulence in air flow, plant canopies, temperature, humidity and moisture play vital roles in the dissipation and detection of odorants. These factors have seemingly driven the development of a vast array of behaviors as relate to predation or the avoidance thereof: that range from using various terrains to weaken depositional scent trails to nest site selection that avoid long standing plumes of odorant. Because I once observed a whitetail fawn lift itself from concealment, wade a few steps into a pond to relieve itself and then lie down in the exact spot it had been in before, I was particularly interested in any account of ungulate fawn having been observed urinating or defecating in water to mask or avoid leaving tell-tale odorants that might lead to their discovery. This particular behavior was not corroborated in this text but other equally fascinating avoidance attributes of parturition and neonate behavior as well as the use of water to lose a trailing predator were documented. Perhaps I should write the author of the seeming avoidance behavior that my son and I were I was lucky enough to observe while fishing one particularly meaningful day. Every time I see innate behavior such as this in a newborn creature I cannot help but marvel at the intricate nature of the “programming” it must take for such a response from a creature that doesn’t know why it is doing what it is doing but is driven to do so anyway!! To God be the glory for great things He has done!!!

The Olfactory-concealment theory proposed by Michael Conover states that, (my words) because the ability to locate prey via olfactory processes and the ability to avoid predation that might result from these same processes varies with time, location and atmospheric conditions, specific behavioral and physiological responses are evidence of the impact of olfaction on predator-prey dynamics. This theory does seem to provide interesting answers to some as yet unanswered questions relating to physiological and ecological questions: why nest densities remain high in areas of high predation, why old growth forests are often utilized over even-aged forests, why most nests maintain a single entrance, why many arboreal creatures prefer to nest over bodies of water, why ungulates seek south-facing slopes for parturition and fawn concealment, why digestive enzymes are present in the saliva of animals that seemingly digest little in the mouth. I suggest you “check out” this book for a fascinating look at a sense we humans simply find hard to imagine and an insightful voyage into the world of predator and prey!