{
  "abstract": "Ecology’s foundational models keep only the first moment of the stochastic distributions of encounters. Yet, encounter behaviour (how animals search, aggregate, hide and move) sets the whole distributional shape: zeros, variance, skew and, where particular behaviours build them, heavy tails. That shape decides vital rates, persistence and spatial pattern, because the rates involved are threshold-like and read the tail, not the mean. I argue that departures from the well-mixed Poisson are the rule; that identifiable, measurable behaviours generate them; that where persistence rests on a refuge, a threshold or a self-reinforcing assembly, removing them removes persistence; and that the task ahead is to derive the shape forward from measured behaviours.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Stefan Neuenfeldt"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5y50hj2w5sn12.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.32942/x2xm53",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "5y50hj2w5sn12",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15399/",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "bepress",
      "Behavior and Ethology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Ecology and Evolutionary Biology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Evolution"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Marine Biology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Population Biology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology"
    ],
    [
      "bepress",
      "encounter behaviour; mass action; over-dispersion; heavy tails; point processes; predator–prey interactions; collective behaviour; recruitment; persistence"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2303|Wildlife Ecology and Conservation"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221140129",
  "pdf_url": "https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/object/15399/download/26700/",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-09",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5y50hj2w5sn12.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:37Z",
      "native_id": "15399",
      "source": "ecoevorxiv",
      "url": "https://ecoevorxiv.org/repository/view/15399/"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "bepress:Ecology and Evolutionary Biology",
      "subfield": "ecology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "bepress:Ecology and Evolutionary Biology",
      "subfield": "evolutionary-biology"
    },
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "bepress:Behavior and Ethology",
      "subfield": "zoology-behaviour"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Encounter behaviour shapes ecological distributions",
  "title_text": "Encounter behaviour shapes ecological distributions",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/5y50hj2w5sn12",
  "venue": "EcoEvoRxiv",
  "versions": []
}