Temperature-Dependent Species Interactions Shape Priority Effects and the Persistence of Unequal Competitors

2018 ◽  
Vol 191 (2) ◽  
pp. 197-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tess Nahanni Grainger ◽  
Adam Ivan Rego ◽  
Benjamin Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Unequal Competitors

scholarly journals The importance of species interactions in eco-evolutionary community dynamics under climate change

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Åkesson ◽  
Alva Curtsdotter ◽  
Anna Eklöf ◽  
Bo Ebenman ◽  
Jon Norberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Evolutionary Dynamics ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Modeling Framework ◽  
Impact Of Climate Change ◽  
The Impact

AbstractEco-evolutionary dynamics are essential in shaping the biological response of communities to ongoing climate change. Here we develop a spatially explicit eco-evolutionary framework which features more detailed species interactions, integrating evolution and dispersal. We include species interactions within and between trophic levels, and additionally, we incorporate the feature that species’ interspecific competition might change due to increasing temperatures and affect the impact of climate change on ecological communities. Our modeling framework captures previously reported ecological responses to climate change, and also reveals two key results. First, interactions between trophic levels as well as temperature-dependent competition within a trophic level mitigate the negative impact of climate change on biodiversity, emphasizing the importance of understanding biotic interactions in shaping climate change impact. Second, our trait-based perspective reveals a strong positive relationship between the within-community variation in preferred temperatures and the capacity to respond to climate change. Temperature-dependent competition consistently results both in higher trait variation and more responsive communities to altered climatic conditions. Our study demonstrates the importance of species interactions in an eco-evolutionary setting, further expanding our knowledge of the interplay between ecological and evolutionary processes.

scholarly journals Temperature-dependent changes to host-parasite interactions alter the thermal performance of a bacterial host

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Padfield ◽  
Meaghan Castledine ◽  
Angus Buckling
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Performance ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Maximum Growth ◽  
Maximum Growth Rate ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Data Accessibility ◽  
Cost Of Resistance ◽  
Host Parasite

AbstractThermal performance curves (TPCs) are used to predict changes in species interactions, and hence range shifts, disease dynamics and community composition, under forecasted climate change. Species interactions might in turn affect TPCs. Here, we investigate whether temperature-dependent changes in a microbial host-parasite interaction (the bacterium Pseudomonas fluorescens, and its bacteriophage, SBWФ2) changes the host TPC. The bacteriophage had a narrower infectivity range, with their critical thermal maximum ∼6°C lower than those at which the bacteria still had high growth. Consequently, in the presence of phage, the host TPC had a higher optimum temperature and a lower maximum growth rate. These changes were driven by a temperature-dependent evolution, and cost, of resistance; the largest cost of resistance occurring where bacteria grew best in the absence of phage. Our work highlights how ecological and evolutionary mechanisms can alter the effect of a parasite on host thermal performance, even over very short timescales.Data accessibility statementAll data and R code used in the analysis will be made available on GitHub and archived on Zenodo.

scholarly journals Metabolic Symbiosis Facilitates Species Coexistence and Generates Light-Dependent Priority Effects

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veronica Hsu ◽  
Holly V. Moeller
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Source ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Green Algae ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Paramecium Bursaria ◽  
Mutual Benefit ◽  
Cascading Effects

Metabolic symbiosis is a form of symbiosis in which organisms exchange metabolites, typically for mutual benefit. For example, acquired phototrophs like Paramecium bursaria obtain photosynthate from endosymbiotic green algae called Chlorella. In addition to facilitating the persistence of P. bursaria by providing a carbon source that supplements P. bursaria’s heterotrophic digestion of bacteria, symbiotic Chlorella may impact competitive interactions between P. bursaria and other bacterivores, with cascading effects on community composition and overall diversity. Here, we tested the effects of metabolic symbiosis on coexistence by assessing the impacts of acquired phototrophy on priority effects, or the effect of species arrival order on species interactions, between P. bursaria and its competitor Colpidium. Our results suggest light-dependent priority effects. The acquired phototroph benefited from metabolic symbiosis during sequential arrival of each organism in competition, and led to increased growth of late-arriving Colpidium. These findings demonstrate that understanding the consequences of priority effects for species coexistence requires consideration of metabolic symbiosis.

scholarly journals Untangling the complexity of priority effects in multi-species communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuliang Song ◽  
Tadashi Fukami ◽  
Serguei Saavedra
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Alternative Stable States ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Stable States ◽  
Small Communities ◽  
History Of ◽  
Local Species

AbstractPriority effects arise when the history of species arrival influences local species interactions, thereby affecting the composition of ecological communities. The outcome of some priority effects may be more difficult to predict than others, but this possibility remains to be fully investigated. Here, we provide a graph-based, non-parametric, theoretical framework to understand the classification of priority effects and the predictability of multi-species communities. We show that we can classify priority effects by decomposing them into four basic dynamical sources: the number of alternative stable states, the number of alternative transient paths, the length of composition cycles, and the interaction between alternative stable states and composition cycles. Although the number of alternative stable states has received most of the attention, we show that the other three sources can contribute more to the predictability of community assembly, especially in small communities. We discuss how this theoretical framework can guide new experimental studies.

scholarly journals Priority effects and season length shape long-term competition dynamics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heng-Xing Zou ◽  
Volker H. W. Rudolf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Arrival Time ◽  
Stage Structure ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Season Length ◽  
Priority Effect ◽  
Phenological Shifts

AbstractThe relative arrival time of species often affects species interactions within a community, contributing to priority effects. Recent studies on phenological shifts under climate change have generated renewed interest on priority effects, but their role in shaping long-term dynamics of seasonal communities is poorly resolved. Here we use a general stage-structure competition model to determine how different types of priority effects influence long-term coexistence of species in seasonal systems. We show that while shifts in mean and variance of relative arrival time can alter persistence and coexistence conditions of species, these effects depend on season length and type of priority effect. In “slow” systems with one or a few cohorts per season, changes in mean and seasonal variation of relative arrival time strongly altered species persistence through trait-mediated priority effects. In contrast, competition outcome in “fast” systems is largely determined by numeric priority effects due to interaction between many overlapping generations. These results suggest that empirically observed priority effects may arise from fundamentally different mechanisms, and that fast-generating systems may be less impacted by seasonal variation in phenology. Our model provides important insight into how natural communities respond to increasing variation in phenology over seasons under climate change.

scholarly journals A quantitative synthesis of soil microbial effects on plant species coexistence

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinyi Yan ◽  
Jonathan M. Levine ◽  
Gaurav S. Kandlikar
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Soil Microbes ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Plant Soil ◽  
Niche Differences ◽  
Plant Coexistence ◽  
Microbial Effects

Soil microorganisms play a major role in shaping plant diversity, not only through their direct effects as pathogens, mutualists, and decomposers, but also by altering interactions between plants. In particular, previous research has shown that the soil community often generates frequency-dependent feedback loops among plants that can either destabilize species interactions, or generate stabilizing niche differences that promote species coexistence. However, recent insights from modern coexistence theory have shown that microbial effects on plant coexistence depend not only on these stabilizing or destabilizing effects, but also on the degree to which they generate competitive fitness differences. While many previous experiments have generated the data necessary for evaluating microbially mediated fitness differences, these effects have rarely been quantified in the literature. Here we present a meta-analysis of data from 50 studies, which we used to quantify the microbially mediated (de)stabilization and fitness differences derived from a classic plant-soil feedback model. Across 518 pairwise comparisons, we found that soil microbes generated both stabilization (or destabilization) and fitness differences, but also that the microbially mediated fitness differences dominated. As a consequence, if plants are otherwise equivalent competitors, the balance of soil microbe-generated (de)stabilization and fitness differences drives species exclusion much more frequently than coexistence or priority effects. Our work shows that microbially mediated fitness differences are an important but overlooked effect of soil microbes on plant coexistence. This finding paves the way for a more complete understanding of the processes that maintain plant biodiversity.

scholarly journals Thermal asymmetries influence effects of warming on stage and size-dependent predator-prey interactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Pepi ◽  
Tracie Hayes ◽  
Kelsey Lyberger
Keyword(s):  
Climate Warming ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Vital Rates ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Size Dependent ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Increasing Temperature ◽  
The Impact

AbstractClimate warming directly influences the developmental and feeding rates of organisms. Changes in these rates are likely to have consequences for species interactions, particularly for organisms affected by stage- or size-dependent predation. However, because of differences in species-specific responses to warming, predicting the impact of warming on predator and prey densities can be difficult. We present a general model of stage-dependent predation with temperature-dependent vital rates to explore the effects of warming when predator and prey have different thermal optima. We found that warming generally favored the interactor with the higher thermal optimum. Part of this effect occurred due to the stage-dependent nature of the interaction, and part due to thermal asymmetries. Furthermore, large differences in thermal optima between predators and prey (i.e., a high degree of asymmetry) led to a weaker interaction. Interestingly, below the predator and prey thermal optima, warming caused prey densities to decline, even as increasing temperature improved prey performance. We also parameterize our model using values from a well-studied system, Arctia virginalis and Formica lasioides, in which the predator has a warmer optimum. Overall, our results provide a general framework for understanding stage- and temperature-dependent predator-prey interactions, and illustrate that the thermal niche of both predator and prey are important to consider when predicting the effects of climate warming.

scholarly journals Dormancy in metacommunities

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan I. Wisnoski ◽  
Mathew A. Leibold ◽  
Jay T. Lennon
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Environmental Variability ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Ephemeral Ponds ◽  
Metacommunity Ecology ◽  
Structure And Dynamics ◽  
Metacommunity Dynamics ◽  
Level Process ◽  
Temporal Dispersal

Although metacommunity ecology has improved our understanding of how dispersal affects community structure and dynamics across spatial scales, it has yet to adequately account for dormancy. Dormancy is a reversible state of reduced metabolic activity that enables temporal dispersal within the metacommunity. Dormancy is also a metacommunity-level process because it can covary with spatial dispersal and affect diversity across spatial scales. We develop a framework to integrate dispersal and dormancy, focusing on the covariation they exhibit, to predict how dormancy modifies the importance of species interactions, dispersal, and historical contingencies in metacommunities. We examine case studies of microcrustaceans in ephemeral ponds, where dormancy is integral to metacommunity dynamics. We analyze traits of bromeliad-dwelling invertebrates and identify constraints on dispersal and dormancy strategies. Using simulations, we demonstrate that dormancy can alter classic metacommunity patterns of diversity in ways that depend on dispersal–dormancy covariation and spatiotemporal environmental variability. We propose that dormancy may also facilitate evolution-mediated priority effects if locally adapted seed banks prevent colonization by more dispersal-limited species. We present theoretically and empirically testable predictions for other possible ecological and evolutionary implications of dormancy in metacommunities, some of which may fundamentally alter our understanding of metacommunity ecology.

scholarly journals A host immune hormone modifies parasite species interactions and epidemics: insights from a field manipulation

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1890) ◽  
pp. 20182075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fletcher W. Halliday ◽  
James Umbanhowar ◽  
Charles E. Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Host Population ◽  
Priority Effects ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Immune Mediated ◽  
Wild Host ◽  
Sentinel Plants ◽  
Research Gap ◽  
Host Parasite ◽  
Prior Infection

Parasite epidemics can depend on priority effects, and parasite priority effects can result from the host immune response to prior infection. Yet we lack experimental evidence that such immune-mediated priority effects influence epidemics. To address this research gap, we manipulated key host immune hormones, then measured the consequences for within-host parasite interactions, and ultimately parasite epidemics in the field. Specifically, we applied plant immune-signalling hormones to sentinel plants, embedded into a wild host population, and tracked foliar infections caused by two common fungal parasites. Within-host individuals, priority effects were altered by the immune-signalling hormone, salicylic acid (SA). Scaling up from within-host interactions, hosts treated with SA experienced a lower prevalence of a less aggressive parasite, increased burden of infection by a more aggressive parasite, and experienced fewer co-infections. Together, these results indicate that by altering within-host priority effects, host immune hormones can drive parasite epidemics. This study therefore experimentally links host immune hormones to within-host priority effects and parasite epidemics, advancing a more mechanistic understanding of how interactions among parasites alter their epidemics.

scholarly journals Temperature variability alters the stability and thresholds for collapse of interacting species

2020 ◽  
Vol 375 (1814) ◽  
pp. 20190457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura E. Dee ◽  
Daniel Okamtoto ◽  
Anna Gårdmark ◽  
Jose M. Montoya ◽  
Steve J. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Variation ◽  
Thermal Performance ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Marine Conservation ◽  
Temperature Variability ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Temperature Dependent ◽  
Interacting Species ◽  
Stable Coexistence ◽  
Research Perspectives

Temperature variability and extremes can have profound impacts on populations and ecological communities. Predicting impacts of thermal variability poses a challenge, because it has both direct physiological effects and indirect effects through species interactions. In addition, differences in thermal performance between predators and prey and nonlinear averaging of temperature-dependent performance can result in complex and counterintuitive population dynamics in response to climate change. Yet the combined consequences of these effects remain underexplored. Here, modelling temperature-dependent predator–prey dynamics, we study how changes in temperature variability affect population size, collapse and stable coexistence of both predator and prey, relative to under constant environments or warming alone. We find that the effects of temperature variation on interacting species can lead to a diversity of outcomes, from predator collapse to stable coexistence, depending on interaction strengths and differences in species' thermal performance. Temperature variability also alters predictions about population collapse—in some cases allowing predators to persist for longer than predicted when considering warming alone, and in others accelerating collapse. To inform management responses that are robust to future climates with increasing temperature variability and extremes, we need to incorporate the consequences of temperature variation in complex ecosystems. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Integrative research perspectives on marine conservation’.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document