TY - JOUR T1 - Defining and measuring the impact of dynamic traits on interspecific interactions JF - Ecology Y1 - 2007 A1 - Abrams,P.A. SP - 2555 EP - 2562 KW - defense KW - ecology KW - food webs KW - indirect effects KW - indirect interactions KW - interactions KW - INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS KW - PREDATOR KW - predators KW - PREY AB - Trait- and density-mediated indirect effects describe different pathways by which indirect interactions in food webs are propagated from one species to another, through changes in intermediate species. A series of articles in Ecology has progressively altered the original definitions of "trait-mediated’’ to the point where understanding is being impeded. The most recent of these articles are two meta-analyses that use "trait-mediated’’ to describe the demographic costs to a prey species of employing anti-predator defenses. These same articles introduce a companion term, "density-mediated interaction,’’ apparently to describe direct and indirect interactions that only involve changes in population density due to consumption by predators. This new terminology has many disadvantages, including ( 1) using a general term for a relatively narrow group of processes; ( 2) using "mediated’’ in a manner inconsistent with existing terminology; ( 3) confusing the accepted definitions of different types of indirect effects; and ( 4) providing a highly incomplete measure of the impact of behavior on the predator - prey interaction. Solutions to these problems and the meaning of the meta-analyses are discussed VL - 88 SN - 0012-9658 UR - ISI:000250714200016 N1 - J OCT ER -