Measuring ecological specialization along a natural stress gradient using a set of complementary niche breadth indices

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 892-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marta Carboni ◽  
David Zelený ◽  
Alicia T.R. Acosta
Keyword(s):  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Stress Gradient ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Natural Stress

Land use impacts on stream community composition and concordance along a natural stress gradient

2016 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Tolkkinen ◽  
H. Mykrä ◽  
R. Virtanen ◽  
M. Tolkkinen ◽  
T. Kauppila ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Stress Gradient ◽  
Land Use Impacts ◽  
Stream Community ◽  
Natural Stress

scholarly journals Intraspecific Competition and the Promotion of Ecological Specialization

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdel H. Halloway ◽  
Joel S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Intraspecific Competition ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Evolutionary Model ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Secondary Resources ◽  
Cast Doubt ◽  
The Face ◽  
Game Theoretic ◽  
Diversification Hypothesis

AbstractThe evolution of ecological specialization can be summed up in a single question: why would a species evolve a more-restricted niche space? Various hypotheses have been developed to explain the promotion or suppression of ecological specialization. One hypothesis, competitive diversification, states that increased intraspecific competition will cause a population to broaden its niche breadth. With individuals alike in resource use preference, more individuals reduce the availability of preferred resources and should grant higher fitness to those that use secondary resources. However, recent studies cast doubt on this hypothesis with increased intraspecific competition reducing niche breadth in some systems. We present a game-theoretic evolutionary model showing greater ecological specialization with intraspecific competition under specific conditions. This is in contrast to the competitive diversification hypothesis. Our analysis reveals that specialization can offer a competitive advantage. Largely, when facing weak competition, more specialized individuals are able to acquire more of the preferred resources without greatly sacrificing secondary resources and therefore gain higher fitness. Only when competition is too great for an individual to significantly affect resource use will intraspecific competition lead to an increased niche breadth. Other conditions, such as a low diversity of resources and a low penalty to specialization, help promote ecological specialization in the face of intraspecific competition. Through this work, we have been able to discover a previously unseen role that intraspecific competition plays in the evolution of ecological specialization.

Opposing patterns of zooplankton diversity and functioning along a natural stress gradient: when the going gets tough, the tough get going

Oikos ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 123 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsófia Horváth ◽  
Csaba F. Vad ◽  
Adrienn Tóth ◽  
Katalin Zsuga ◽  
Emil Boros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stress Gradient ◽  
Natural Stress

scholarly journals Asexual parasites and their extraordinary host ranges

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (6) ◽  
pp. 1463-1484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda K Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Host Range ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Scale Insects ◽  
Evolution Of Sex ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Geographic Parthenogenesis ◽  
Link Theory ◽  
First Pass ◽  
Large Host

Abstract In diverse parasite taxa, from scale insects to root-knot nematodes, asexual lineages have exceptionally large host ranges, larger than those of their sexual relatives. Phylogenetic comparative studies of parasite taxa indicate that increases in host range and geographic range increase the probability of establishment of asexual lineages. At first pass, this convergence of traits appears counter-intuitive: intimate, antagonistic association with an enormous range of host taxa correlates with asexual reproduction, which should limit genetic variation within populations. Why would narrow host ranges favor sexual parasites and large host ranges favor asexual parasites? To take on this problem I link theory on ecological specialization to the two predominant hypotheses for the evolution of sex. I argue that both hypotheses predict a positive association between host range and the probability of invasion of asexual parasites, mediated either by variation in population size or in the strength of antagonistic coevolution. I also review hypotheses on colonization and the evolution of niche breadth in asexual lineages. I emphasize parasite taxa, with their diversity of reproductive modes and ecological strategies, as valuable assets in the hunt for solutions to the classic problems of the evolution of sex and geographic parthenogenesis.

Variable niche breadth in benthic diatoms: Implications of ecological specialization and generalization for community structure

2020 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 1131-1139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew J. Bramburger ◽  
Paul B. Hamilton ◽  
G. Douglas Haffner ◽  
Peter E. Hehanussa
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Niche Breadth ◽  
Benthic Diatoms ◽  
Ecological Specialization
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