Paradox of enrichment

The paradox of enrichment is a term from population ecology coined by Michael Rosenzweig in 1971. He described an effect in six predator–prey models where increasing the food available to the prey caused the predator's population to destabilize. A common example is that if the food supply of a prey such as a rabbit is overabundant, its population will grow unbounded and cause the predator population (such as a lynx) to grow unsustainably large. That may result in a crash in the population of the predators and possibly lead to local eradication or even species extinction. The paradox of enrichment is a term from population ecology coined by Michael Rosenzweig in 1971. He described an effect in six predator–prey models where increasing the food available to the prey caused the predator's population to destabilize. A common example is that if the food supply of a prey such as a rabbit is overabundant, its population will grow unbounded and cause the predator population (such as a lynx) to grow unsustainably large. That may result in a crash in the population of the predators and possibly lead to local eradication or even species extinction.