Neutral Community Dynamics and the Evolution of Species Interactions

2018 ◽  
Vol 191 (4) ◽  
pp. 421-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Túlio P. Coelho ◽  
Thiago F. Rangel
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics

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 Introduction: Special issue on species interactions, ecological networks and community dynamics – Untangling the entangled bank using molecular techniques

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Roslin ◽  
Michael Traugott ◽  
Mattias Jonsson ◽  
Graham N. Stone ◽  
Simon Creer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Ecological Networks ◽  
Molecular Techniques ◽  
Special Issue

scholarly journals Biotic rescaling reveals importance of species interactions for variation in biodiversity responses to climate change

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (37) ◽  
pp. 22858-22865 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vigdis Vandvik ◽  
Olav Skarpaas ◽  
Kari Klanderud ◽  
Richard J. Telford ◽  
Aud H. Halbritter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Biotic Interactions ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Climate Gradients ◽  
Climate Change Responses ◽  
Local Extinctions ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Underlying Processes

Generality in understanding biodiversity responses to climate change has been hampered by substantial variation in the rates and even directions of response to a given change in climate. We propose that such context dependencies can be clarified by rescaling climate gradients in terms of the underlying biological processes, with biotic interactions as a particularly important process. We tested this rescaling approach in a replicated field experiment where entire montane grassland communities were transplanted in the direction of expected temperature and/or precipitation change. In line with earlier work, we found considerable variation across sites in community dynamics in response to climate change. However, these complex context dependencies could be substantially reduced or eliminated by rescaling climate drivers in terms of proxies of plant−plant interactions. Specifically, bryophytes limited colonization by new species into local communities, whereas the cover of those colonists, along with bryophytes, were the primary drivers of local extinctions. These specific interactions are relatively understudied, suggesting important directions for future work in similar systems. More generally, the success of our approach in explaining and simplifying landscape-level variation in climate change responses suggests that developing and testing proxies for relevant underlying processes could be a fruitful direction for building more general models of biodiversity response to climate change.

scholarly journals Predicting N-Strain Coexistence from Co-colonization Interactions: Epidemiology Meets Ecology and the Replicator Equation

2020 ◽  
Vol 82 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sten Madec ◽  
Erida Gjini
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Secondary Infection ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
System Size ◽  
Replicator Equation ◽  
Efficient Computation ◽  
Volterra Systems ◽  
Infection Processes ◽  
Resistance To Invasion

AbstractMulti-type infection processes are ubiquitous in ecology, epidemiology and social systems, but remain hard to analyze and to understand on a fundamental level. Here, we study a multi-strain susceptible-infected-susceptible model with coinfection. A host already colonized by one strain can become more or less vulnerable to co-colonization by a second strain, as a result of facilitating or competitive interactions between the two. Fitness differences between N strains are mediated through $$N^2$$ N 2 altered susceptibilities to secondary infection that depend on colonizer-cocolonizer identities ($$K_{ij}$$ K ij ). By assuming strain similarity in such pairwise traits, we derive a model reduction for the endemic system using separation of timescales. This ‘quasi-neutrality’ in trait space sets a fast timescale where all strains interact neutrally, and a slow timescale where selective dynamics unfold. We find that these slow dynamics are governed by the replicator equation for N strains. Our framework allows to build the community dynamics bottom-up from only pairwise invasion fitnesses between members. We highlight that mean fitness of the multi-strain network, changes with their individual dynamics, acts equally upon each type, and is a key indicator of system resistance to invasion. By uncovering the link between N-strain epidemiological coexistence and the replicator equation, we show that the ecology of co-colonization relates to Fisher’s fundamental theorem and to Lotka-Volterra systems. Besides efficient computation and complexity reduction for any system size, these results open new perspectives into high-dimensional community ecology, detection of species interactions, and evolution of biodiversity.

scholarly journals My niche: individual spatial niche specialization affects within- and between-species interactions

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1918) ◽  
pp. 20192211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annika Schirmer ◽  
Julia Hoffmann ◽  
Jana A. Eccard ◽  
Melanie Dammhahn
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Myodes Glareolus ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Species Variation ◽  
Interaction Patterns ◽  
Spatial Interactions ◽  
Interindividual Differences ◽  
Niche Specialization

Intraspecific trait variation is an important determinant of fundamental ecological interactions. Many of these interactions are mediated by behaviour. Therefore, interindividual differences in behaviour should contribute to individual niche specialization. Comparable with variation in morphological traits, behavioural differentiation between individuals should limit similarity among competitors and thus act as a mechanism maintaining within-species variation in ecological niches and facilitating species coexistence. Here, we aimed to test whether interindividual differences in boldness covary with spatial interactions within and between two ecologically similar, co-occurring rodent species ( Myodes glareolus , Apodemus agrarius ). In five subpopulations in northeast Germany, we quantified individual differences in boldness via repeated standardized tests and spatial interaction patterns via capture–mark–recapture ( n = 126) and automated VHF telemetry ( n = 36). We found that boldness varied with space use in both species. Individuals of the same population occupied different spatial niches, which resulted in non-random patterns of within- and between-species spatial interactions. Behavioural types mainly differed in the relative importance of intra- versus interspecific competition. Within-species variation along this competition gradient could contribute to maintaining individual niche specialization. Moreover, behavioural differentiation between individuals limits similarity among competitors, which might facilitate the coexistence of functionally equivalent species and, thus, affect community dynamics and local biodiversity.

scholarly journals Advancing the long view of ecological change in tundra systems

2013 ◽  
Vol 368 (1624) ◽  
pp. 20120477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Post ◽  
Toke T. Høye
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Research Personnel ◽  
Ecological Responses ◽  
History Of ◽  
Population And Community Dynamics ◽  
Long Term Studies

Despite uncertainties related to sustained funding, ideological rivalries and the turnover of research personnel, long-term studies and studies espousing a long-term perspective in ecology have a history of contributing landmark insights into fundamental topics, such as population- and community dynamics, species interactions and ecosystem function. They also have the potential to reveal surprises related to unforeseen events and non-stationary dynamics that unfold over the course of ongoing observation and experimentation. The unprecedented rate and magnitude of current and expected abiotic changes in tundra environments calls for a synthetic overview of the scope of ecological responses these changes have elicited. In this special issue, we present a series of contributions that advance the long view of ecological change in tundra systems, either through sustained long-term research, or through retrospective or prospective modelling. Beyond highlighting the value of long-term research in tundra systems, the insights derived herein should also find application to the study of ecological responses to environmental change in other biomes as well.

scholarly journals Missing checkerboards: an absence of competitive signal in Alnus-associated ectomycorrhizal fungal communities

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Kennedy ◽  
Nhu H. Nguyen ◽  
Hannah Cohen ◽  
Kabir G Peay
Keyword(s):  
Interspecific Competition ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Fungal Species ◽  
Fungal Communities ◽  
Positive Interactions ◽  
Root Tips ◽  
Host Genus ◽  
Ecm Fungi ◽  
Occurrence Patterns

A number of recent studies suggest that interspecific competition plays a key role in determining the structure of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities. Despite this growing consensus, there has been limited study of ECM fungal community dynamics in abiotically stressful environments, which are often dominated by positive rather than antagonistic interactions. In this study, we examined the ECM fungal communities associated with the host genus Alnus, which live in soils high in both nitrate and acidity. The nature of ECM fungal species interactions (i.e. antagonistic, neutral, or positive) was assessed using taxon co-occurrence and sequence abundance correlational analyses. ECM fungal communities were sampled from root tips and mesh in-growth bags in three monodominant A. rubra plots and identified using Illumina-based amplification of the ITS1 gene region. We found a total of 183 ECM fungal taxa present across the plots; 16 of which were closely related to known Alnus-associated ECM fungi. Contrary to previous studies of ECM fungal communities, taxon co-occurrence analyses on both the total and Alnus-associated ECM datasets indicated that the ECM fungal communities in this system were not structured by interspecific competition. Instead the co-occurrence patterns were consistent with either random assembly or significant positive interactions. Pair-wise correlational analyses were also more consistent with neutral or positive interactions. Taken together, our results suggest that interspecific competition does not appear to determine the structure of all ECM fungal communities and that abiotic conditions may be important in determining the specific type of interaction occurring among ECM fungi.

scholarly journals Trophic interactions are mediated by the availability of water in temperate grassland ecosystems

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Harrower ◽  
Lauchlan H Fraser ◽  
Roy Turkington
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Water Availability ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Rainfall Gradient ◽  
South Central ◽  
Vertebrate Predators

The addition or removal of predators from food webs by humans can have profound effects on the interactions between species. However, predators and primary producers are inextricably linked by the flow of energy through ecosystems. In temperate grasslands energy flow through ecosystems is often limited by water availability to plants. So, if the number and strength of interactions between species in grasslands depends on the amount of water available to plants, and we remove predators along a gradient in water availability, then we should see change in species interactions with predator removals along the gradient. After estimating trophic position and diet breadth of key predators, we excluded birds and small mammal predators from grasslands along a rainfall gradient in south central British Columbia for four years, and measured the response of plants and arthropods. Water availability significantly altered food web structure, and consequently the role of predators in structuring these ecosystems. When water was scarce, vertebrate predators impeded plant growth by feeding on spiders that would normally eat herbivorous insects. When water was more abundant, vertebrate predators facilitated plant growth by feeding on a broad range of arthropod prey. As water availability to plants increased they grew more. Herbivores were not able to consume all the new growth and thus dead plant material accumulated. Increasing detritus helped establish new links between predators and plants. Phenomena such as climate change can determine the availability of water entering ecosystems, which then alters trophic structure. If water availability can alter food webs there are no simple generalizations for community dynamics that are independent of climate.

scholarly journals A Holling Functional Response Model for Mapping QTLs Governing Interspecific Interactions

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao-Yu Zhang ◽  
Huiying Gong ◽  
Qing Fang ◽  
Xuli Zhu ◽  
Libo Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Response ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Interspecific Interactions ◽  
Microbial Interactions ◽  
Ecological Communities ◽  
Response Model ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Dynamic Complexity ◽  
Genome Level

Genes play an important role in community ecology and evolution, but how to identify the genes that affect community dynamics at the whole genome level is very challenging. Here, we develop a Holling type II functional response model for mapping quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that govern interspecific interactions. The model, integrated with generalized Lotka-Volterra differential dynamic equations, shows a better capacity to reveal the dynamic complexity of inter-species interactions than classic competition models. By applying the new model to a published mapping data from a competition experiment of two microbial species, we identify a set of previously uncharacterized QTLs that are specifically responsible for microbial cooperation and competition. The model can not only characterize how these QTLs affect microbial interactions, but also address how change in ecological interactions activates the genetic effects of the QTLs. This model provides a quantitative means of predicting the genetic architecture that shapes the dynamic behavior of ecological communities.

scholarly journals Higher-order effects, continuous species interactions, and trait evolution shape microbial spatial dynamics

2021 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. e2020956119
Author(s):  
Anshuman Swain ◽  
Levi Fussell ◽  
William F. Fagan
Keyword(s):  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Formation Time ◽  
Community Formation ◽  
Order Effects ◽  
Disturbance Regimes ◽  
Antagonistic Interactions

The assembly and maintenance of microbial diversity in natural communities, despite the abundance of toxin-based antagonistic interactions, presents major challenges for biological understanding. A common framework for investigating such antagonistic interactions involves cyclic dominance games with pairwise interactions. The incorporation of higher-order interactions in such models permits increased levels of microbial diversity, especially in communities in which antibiotic-producing, sensitive, and resistant strains coexist. However, most such models involve a small number of discrete species, assume a notion of pure cyclic dominance, and focus on low mutation rate regimes, none of which well represent the highly interlinked, quickly evolving, and continuous nature of microbial phenotypic space. Here, we present an alternative vision of spatial dynamics for microbial communities based on antagonistic interactions—one in which a large number of species interact in continuous phenotypic space, are capable of rapid mutation, and engage in both direct and higher-order interactions mediated by production of and resistance to antibiotics. Focusing on toxin production, vulnerability, and inhibition among species, we observe highly divergent patterns of diversity and spatial community dynamics. We find that species interaction constraints (rather than mobility) best predict spatiotemporal disturbance regimes, whereas community formation time, mobility, and mutation size best explain patterns of diversity. We also report an intriguing relationship among community formation time, spatial disturbance regimes, and diversity dynamics. This relationship, which suggests that both higher-order interactions and rapid evolution are critical for the origin and maintenance of microbial diversity, has broad-ranging links to the maintenance of diversity in other systems.

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