Conclusions
While predator-prey relationships are central to all ecological
modelling of population dynamics, a mathematically consistent equation
to represent these relationships has proved elusive. This research
showed that the vast majority of the most common equations currently in
use in both theoretical and empirical (field) ecological research fail
to meet several basic criteria for mathematical consistency. We propose
a list of such criteria to facilitate the evaluation of predation
equations developed in the future and propose a new equation that does
meet these criteria. The empirical evaluation of the new proposed
equation also suggests that it is more robust to varying functional
response forms found in different ecological contexts.