Abstract
Scavenging can have important consequences for food web dynamics, for
example, it may support additional consumer species and affect predation
on live prey. Still, few food web models include scavenging. We develop
a dynamic model that includes predators, scavengers, live prey, and a
carrion pool to show ramifications of scavenging for predation in simple
food webs. We explicitly model carrion biomass and scavenging behavior
and investigate the effect of scavenging for predation under different
assumptions. Our modeling suggests that the presence of scavengers can
both increase and decrease predator kill rates and overall predation in
model food webs and the impact varies (in magnitude and direction) with
context. In particular, we explore the impact of the amount of dynamics
allowed in the predator, scavenger, and prey populations as well as the
direction and magnitude of interference competition between predators
and scavengers. We provide a road map to the different outcomes and link
these theoretical outcomes to evidence from different empirical studies.