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Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) Spotted on Truman State University's Campus
This image of an eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanusas) taken in October 2019 in Kirksville, MO on Truman State University’s campus. In the past, I have seen feral cats hunting rabbits on campus, which made me think about predation. Predation occurs when one organism consumes organic compounds from another organism in order to obtain energy. In this case the cat is the predator and the eastern cottontail rabbits are the prey. I also wondered how a large feral cat population size affects the eastern cottontail rabbit population size in Kirksville. While I found no studies specifically studying rabbit and feral cat population sizes, there was a study done in Australia that found that feral cats are more likely to prey on other types of animals such as birds if rabbit populations decline. There could be a similar species interactions between birds, eastern cottontail rabbits, and feral cats in Kirksville Missouri. Feral cats have a direct interaction with both bird species and eastern cottontail rabbits and cotton tail rabbit have an indirect interaction with bird species by serving as the primary prey of feral cats when rabbit populations are high. A direct species interaction includes predator-prey and other non-trophic interactions between two species. Indirect species interactions occur when a third species affects the interactions between two or more other species.
Information retrieved from: www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/03/feral-cats-mo...
Eastern Cottontail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus) Spotted on Truman State University's Campus
This image of an eastern cottontail rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanusas) taken in October 2019 in Kirksville, MO on Truman State University’s campus. In the past, I have seen feral cats hunting rabbits on campus, which made me think about predation. Predation occurs when one organism consumes organic compounds from another organism in order to obtain energy. In this case the cat is the predator and the eastern cottontail rabbits are the prey. I also wondered how a large feral cat population size affects the eastern cottontail rabbit population size in Kirksville. While I found no studies specifically studying rabbit and feral cat population sizes, there was a study done in Australia that found that feral cats are more likely to prey on other types of animals such as birds if rabbit populations decline. There could be a similar species interactions between birds, eastern cottontail rabbits, and feral cats in Kirksville Missouri. Feral cats have a direct interaction with both bird species and eastern cottontail rabbits and cotton tail rabbit have an indirect interaction with bird species by serving as the primary prey of feral cats when rabbit populations are high. A direct species interaction includes predator-prey and other non-trophic interactions between two species. Indirect species interactions occur when a third species affects the interactions between two or more other species.
Information retrieved from: www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/feb/03/feral-cats-mo...