Predation and Vertebrate Populations

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Abstract
This is an appraisal of the effects of predation on populations of vertebrates. After distinguishing between more or less inexorable factors underlying the vulnerability of a population to predation, and responsiveness of predators that may be symptomatic of vulnerability, the conclusion is reached that a great deal of predation is without substantial depressive influence. In the sense that victims of one agency miss becoming victims of another, many types of loss are intercompensatory in the net effect. Large depressions of populations of mammals and birds through predation are usually linked with exploitation by man, and by the agency of the dog family. On the whole, in view of the tendencies to overestimate the effects of predatiou, a scaling down of emphasis appears in order.

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