Does the evolution of ontogenetic niche shifts favour species coexistence? An empirical test in Trinidadian streams

Does the evolution of ontogenetic niche shifts favour species coexistence? An empirical test in Trinidadian streams
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个体发生生态位变化的进化是否有利于物种共存?

DOI:
10.1111/1365-2656.13912
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发表时间:
2023
影响因子:
4.8
通讯作者:
Travis, Joseph
Travis, Joseph
中科院分区:
环境科学与生态学1区
文献类型:
--
作者:
Anaya‐Rojas, Jaime M.;Bassar, Ronald D.;Matthews, Blake;Goldberg, Joshua F.;King, Leighton;Reznick, David;Travis, Joseph

文献摘要

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生态学中的一个主要问题是竞争物种进化的频率如何减少竞争相互作用并促进共存。减少竞争性相互作用的一种未经测试的途径是通过一个或多个相互作用物种的营养生态位的个体发生变化。在这种情况下,理论预测,如果较弱的竞争者比上级竞争者更大程度地改变其资源生态位,并且身体尺寸增加,则两个物种可以共存。我们使用稳定同位素测试了这一预测,该同位素产生了关于两个共存鱼类的营养位置(δ 15 N)和碳源(δ 13 C)的信息:特立尼达孔雀鱼和鳉鱼。我们检查了代表三种自然群落类型的鱼类:(1)在有捕食者的地方,(2)在没有捕食者的地方,(3)在只有鱼的地方。我们还研究了从社区中,我们引进了孔雀鱼,提供了一个时间序列的社区变化后,从一个只到一个只到一个的竞争对手,我们发现,在竞争最激烈的社会,有一个更大的个体发育生态位的转变比孔雀鱼的营养位置(只)。这一结果与大小结构种群的理论一致,该理论预测这些结果应该导致两个物种的稳定共存。与其他社区包含孔雀鱼,鳉鱼和捕食者和鳉鱼自己生活的比较显示,这些结果主要是由孔雀鱼的个体发育生态位变化的损失,即使他们是更强的竞争对手。将这些自然群落与将孔雀鱼迁移到仅含鳉鱼的地点的群落进行比较,结果表明,实验群落介于自然鳉鱼-孔雀鱼群落和鳉鱼-孔雀鱼-捕食者群落之间,这些结果为个体发育生态位的变化提供了比较证据,有助于物种的共存,新群落形成后个体发生生态位变化的进化或可塑性变化的证据。
A major question in ecology is how often competing species evolve to reduce competitive interactions and facilitate coexistence. One untested route for a reduction in competitive interactions is through ontogenetic changes in the trophic niche of one or more of the interacting species. In such cases, theory predicts that two species can coexist if the weaker competitor changes its resource niche to a greater degree with increased body size than the superior competitor.We tested this prediction using stable isotopes that yield information about the trophic position (δ15N) and carbon source (δ13C) of two coexisting fish species: Trinidadian guppiesPoecilia reticulataand killifishRivulus hartii.We examined fish from locations representing three natural community types: (1) where killifish and guppies live with predators, (2) where killifish and guppies live without predators and (3) where killifish are the only fish species. We also examined killifish from communities in which we had introduced guppies, providing a temporal sequence of the community changes following the transition from a killifish only to a killifish–guppy community.We found that killifish, which are the weaker competitor, had a much larger ontogenetic niche shift in trophic position than guppies in the community where competition is most intense (killifish–guppy only). This result is consistent with theory for size‐structured populations, which predicts that these results should lead to stable coexistence of the two species. Comparisons with other communities containing guppies, killifish and predators and ones where killifish live by themselves revealed that these results are caused primarily by a loss of ontogenetic niche changes in guppies, even though they are the stronger competitor. Comparisons of these natural communities with communities in which guppies were translocated into sites containing only killifish showed that the experimental communities were intermediate between the natural killifish–guppy community and the killifish–guppy–predator community, suggesting contemporary evolution in these ontogenetic trophic differences.These results provide comparative evidence for ontogenetic niche shifts in contributing to species coexistence and comparative and experimental evidence for evolutionary or plastic changes in ontogenetic niche shifts following the formation of new communities.