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TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - It hardly seems fair, but new research suggests that water creatures nimble enough to avoid being gobbled up by predators may harm their species more than help.
Fish, amphibians and even tiny zooplankton do many things to escape hungry enemies, from finding new homes to changing their physical characteristics. Such tactics may save individual lives — but in the long run may leave the population at large worse off, Michigan State University scientists say.
"When you introduce a predator into a system ... the potential prey don't sit around and say, `Eat me,'" fisheries biologist Scott Pecor said. "They have adapted to get out of the way. But that comes at a cost."
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