Feeding frenzy

In ecology, a feeding frenzy is a type of animal group activity that occurs when predators are overwhelmed by the amount of prey available. The term is also used as an idiom in the English language.

Examples in nature

For example, a large school of fish can cause nearby sharks, such as the lemon shark, to enter into a feeding frenzy.^[1] This can cause the sharks to go wild, biting anything that moves, including each other or anything else within biting range. Another functional explanation for feeding frenzy is competition amongst predators.^[2] This term is most often used when referring to sharks or piranhas.^[3]

English language uses

It has also been used as a term within journalism.^[3]

The term is occasionally used to describe a plethora of something. For instance, a 2016 Bloomberg News article is entitled: "March Madness Is a Fantasy Sports Feeding Frenzy."^[4] In economics the term can be used to describe the economics of the music industry, as large music companies acquired smaller music companies.^[5]

References

^ Bright, Michael (2000). The private life of sharks : the truth behind the myth. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0-8117-2875-7.
^ Staddon. Adaptive Behavior and Learning. Foraging and Behavioral Ecology. Retrieved from: http://psychandneuro.duke.edu/uploads/assets/Chapter09.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
^ a b Feeding frenzy:how attack journalism has transformed American politics, Sabato, Larry., Macmillan., 1991
^ Brustein, Joshua; Broudway, Ira (10 March 2016). "March Madness is a Sports Feeding Frenzy". Bloomburg News. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
^ Anderson, David A. (2007). Economics. New York, New York: Worth Publishers. p. 93. ISBN 9780716769347. Retrieved 3 November 2021.

v t e Swarming
Biological swarming	Agent-based model in biology Collective animal behavior Droving Flock flocking sort sol Herd herd behavior Mixed-species foraging flock Mobbing behavior feeding frenzy Pack pack hunter Patterns of self-organization in ants ant mill symmetry breaking of escaping ants Shoaling and schooling bait ball Swarming behaviour Swarming (honey bee) Swarming motility
Animal migration	Animal migration altitudinal tracking history coded wire tag Bird migration flyways reverse migration Cell migration Fish migration diel vertical Lessepsian salmon run sardine run Homing natal philopatry Insect migration butterflies monarch Sea turtle migration
Swarm algorithms	Agent-based models Ant colony optimization Boids Crowd simulation Particle swarm optimization Swarm intelligence Swarm (simulation)
Collective motion	Active matter Collective motion Self-propelled particles clustering Vicsek model BIO-LGCA
Swarm robotics	Ant robotics Microbotics Nanorobotics Swarm robotics Symbrion
Related topics	Allee effect Animal navigation Collective intelligence Decentralised system Eusociality Group size measures Microbial intelligence Mutualism Predator satiation Quorum sensing Spatial organization Stigmergy Military swarming Task allocation and partitioning of social insects

v t e Ecology: Modelling ecosystems: Trophic components
General	Abiotic component Abiotic stress Behaviour Biogeochemical cycle Biomass Biotic component Biotic stress Carrying capacity Competition Ecosystem Ecosystem ecology Ecosystem model Keystone species List of feeding behaviours Metabolic theory of ecology Productivity Resource Restoration
Producers	Autotrophs Chemosynthesis Chemotrophs Foundation species Kinetotrophs Mixotrophs Myco-heterotrophy Mycotroph Organotrophs Photoheterotrophs Photosynthesis Photosynthetic efficiency Phototrophs Primary nutritional groups Primary production
Consumers	Apex predator Bacterivore Carnivores Chemoorganotroph Foraging Generalist and specialist species Intraguild predation Herbivores Heterotroph Heterotrophic nutrition Insectivore Mesopredators Mesopredator release hypothesis Omnivores Optimal foraging theory Planktivore Predation Prey switching
Decomposers	Chemoorganoheterotrophy Decomposition Detritivores Detritus
Microorganisms	Archaea Bacteriophage Lithoautotroph Lithotrophy Marine Microbial cooperation Microbial ecology Microbial food web Microbial intelligence Microbial loop Microbial mat Microbial metabolism Phage ecology
Food webs	Biomagnification Ecological efficiency Ecological pyramid Energy flow Food chain Trophic level
Example webs	Lakes Rivers Soil Tritrophic interactions in plant defense Marine food webs cold seeps hydrothermal vents intertidal kelp forests North Pacific Gyre San Francisco Estuary tide pool
Processes	Ascendency Bioaccumulation Cascade effect Climax community Competitive exclusion principle Consumer–resource interactions Copiotrophs Dominance Ecological network Ecological succession Energy quality Energy systems language f-ratio Feed conversion ratio Feeding frenzy Mesotrophic soil Nutrient cycle Oligotroph Paradox of the plankton Trophic cascade Trophic mutualism Trophic state index
Defense, counter	Animal coloration Anti-predator adaptations Camouflage Deimatic behaviour Herbivore adaptations to plant defense Mimicry Plant defense against herbivory Predator avoidance in schooling fish

v t e Ecology: Modelling ecosystems: Other components
Population ecology	Abundance Allee effect Consumer-resource model Depensation Ecological yield Effective population size Intraspecific competition Logistic function Malthusian growth model Maximum sustainable yield Overpopulation Overexploitation Population cycle Population dynamics Population modeling Population size Predator–prey (Lotka–Volterra) equations Recruitment Small population size Stability Resilience Resistance Random generalized Lotka–Volterra model
Species	Biodiversity Density-dependent inhibition Ecological effects of biodiversity Ecological extinction Endemic species Flagship species Gradient analysis Indicator species Introduced species Invasive species / Native species Latitudinal gradients in species diversity Minimum viable population Neutral theory Occupancy–abundance relationship Population viability analysis Priority effect Rapoport's rule Relative abundance distribution Relative species abundance Species diversity Species homogeneity Species richness Species distribution Species–area curve Umbrella species
Species interaction	Antibiosis Biological interaction Commensalism Community ecology Ecological facilitation Interspecific competition Mutualism Parasitism Storage effect Symbiosis
Spatial ecology	Biogeography Cross-boundary subsidy Ecocline Ecotone Ecotype Disturbance Edge effects Foster's rule Habitat fragmentation Ideal free distribution Intermediate disturbance hypothesis Insular biogeography Land change modeling Landscape ecology Landscape epidemiology Landscape limnology Metapopulation Patch dynamics r/K selection theory Resource selection function Source–sink dynamics
Niche	Ecological niche Ecological trap Ecosystem engineer Environmental niche modelling Guild Habitat marine habitats Limiting similarity Niche apportionment models Niche construction Niche differentiation Ontogenetic niche shift
Other networks	Assembly rules Bateman's principle Bioluminescence Ecological collapse Ecological debt Ecological deficit Ecological energetics Ecological indicator Ecological threshold Ecosystem diversity Emergence Extinction debt Kleiber's law Liebig's law of the minimum Marginal value theorem Thorson's rule Xerosere
Other	Allometry Alternative stable state Balance of nature Biological data visualization Ecological economics Ecological footprint Ecological forecasting Ecological humanities Ecological stoichiometry Ecopath Ecosystem based fisheries Endolith Evolutionary ecology Functional ecology Industrial ecology Macroecology Microecosystem Natural environment Regime shift Sexecology Systems ecology Urban ecology Theoretical ecology
Outline of ecology

Feeding frenzy

Examples in nature

English language uses

See also

References