Sketch a picture of the type III response. Which of the absorption functions does it resemble? What is the optimal prey density for a predator?
The amount of food a predator eats as a function of prey density is called the functional response. Functional response is often broken into three categories.
• Type I: Linear.
• Type II: Increasing, concave down, finite limit.
• Type III: Increasing with finite limit, concave up for small prey densities, concave down for large prey densities.