Predator - Prey Models ( Lynx and Snowshoe Hares)?

Question

Prove logically that the population of hares is a function of the lynx population and that the lynx population is dependent on availability of hares assuming that lynxes feed exclusively on hares and hares have not other predators

Answer 1

http://maps.unomaha.edu/maher/linked/week3/day8.html answers your question:

Snow-shoe rabbit and lynx linked cyclic variation - cycles interpreted as due to internal dynamics.

You have one equation that describes how the rabbit population is dependent on lynxes and another that describes how lynxes are dependent on rabbits and you operate them simultaneously. This is an example of a negative feedback loop.

Answer 2

Those are pretty big assumptions. The lynx-snowshoe hare linkage is one of those famous graphs of biological predator-prey modeling.

However, it fails to take into account that coyotes actually eat more snowshoe hares than lynx do. Coyotes aren't as good at catching the hares as lynx, and it makes up a much smaller percentage of their diet than for lynx, but there's so many more coyotes that their activities actually swamp the lynx activities.