Population density and nonaggressive competition

The Calhoun (1962) paper has become a keystone article for the population density literature. Although a few research reports have followed, several aspects of population density and the behavioral phenomena identified by Calhoun have been ignored. For example, the consummatory behavior in-aggregate property of the behavioral sink is an unstudied phenomenon. Furthermore, although the literature on potential population reduction mechanisms has grown rapidly, the mechanisms of pup mortality (cannibalization by adults) as identified by Calhoun has not been pursued systematically. Finally, the question of whether social or spatial density or other factors constitute the potent variables in the development of social pathology has not been tested directly. The purpose of these five related experiments was to investigate aspects of these behaviors.