Paradox of enrichment

The Paradox of Enrichment is a term from population ecology coined by Michael Rosenzweig in 1973. He described an effect in six predator-prey models wherein increasing the food available to the prey caused the predator's population to destabilize.

Additional recommended knowledge

Daily Sensitivity Test

Essential Laboratory Skills Guide

Daily Visual Balance Check

Rosenzweig's result (Rosenzweig 1971)

Rosenzweig used ordinary differential equation models to simulate the prey population. Models only represented prey populations. Enrichment was taken to be increasing the prey carrying capacity and showing that the prey population destabilized, usually into a limit cycle.

The cycling behavior after destabilization was more thoroughly explored in a subsequent paper (May 1972) and discussion (Gilpin and Rozenzweig 1972).

References

• Gilpin, Michael and Michael Rosenzweig. 1972. "Enriched Predator-Prey Systems: Theoretical Stability" Science Vol. 177, pp. 902-904.
• May, Robert. 1972. "Limit Cycles in Predator-Prey Communities" Science Vol. 177, pp. 900-902.
• Rosenzweig, Michael. 1971. "The Paradox of Enrichment" Science Vol. 171: pp. 385-387