Temporally robust occupancy frequency distributions in riverine metacommunities explained by local biodiversity regulation

O’Sullivan, Jacob D.; Terry, J. Christopher D.; Rossberg, Axel G.

doi:10.1101/2021.11.08.467721

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 122 publications

(158 reference statements)

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“…To sample candidate invaders into the modelled food web, we recall that it describes one statistically representative patch of many patches forming a metacommunity. In addition, we assume that, as observed in data and models (O’Sullivan et al, 2021b), the proportion of patches occupied by most species is small. The main direct and indirect interaction partners of species invading the focal patch will therefore generally be different from those in previous source patches, so previous adaptations of consumers to specific resource species, and vice versa, play no essential role.…”

Section: The Two‐level Lotka–volterra Food‐web Assembly Model and Its...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of prudent predation in complex food webs

Al‐Khudhairy

Rossberg

2022

Ecology Letters

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Prudent predators catch sufficient prey to sustain their populations but not as much as to undermine their populations’ survival. The idea that predators evolve to be prudent has been dismissed in the 1970s, but the arguments invoked then are untenable in the light of modern evolution theory. The evolution of prudent predation has repeatedly been demonstrated in two‐species predator–prey metacommunity models. However, the vigorous population fluctuations that these models predict are not widely observed. Here we show that in complex model food webs prudent predation evolves as a result of consumer‐mediated (‘apparent’) competitive exclusion of resources, which disadvantages aggressive consumers and does not generate such fluctuations. We make testable predictions for empirical signatures of this mechanism and its outcomes. Then we discuss how these predictions are borne out across freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Demonstrating explanatory power of evolved prudent predation well beyond the question of predator–prey coexistence, the predicted signatures explain unexpected declines of invasive alien species, the shape of stock–recruitment relations of fish, and the clearance rates of pelagic consumers across the latitudinal gradient and 15 orders of magnitude in body mass. Specific research to further test this theory is proposed.

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Section: The Two‐level Lotka–volterra Food‐web Assembly Model and Its...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of prudent predation in complex food webs

Al‐Khudhairy

Rossberg

2022

Ecology Letters

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Community composition exceeds area as a predictor of long-term conservation value

O’Sullivan

Terry

Wilson

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Conserving biodiversity often requires assessment of which sites should be prioritised for protection. Sites are often selected based on area or connectivity, with the assumption that a site’s long-term conservation value, as defined by the number of regional species extinctions its removal causes, is smallest for small, disconnected sites. In a simulation study of a mechanistic metacommunity model we find across the parameter range studied that site area is a good predictor of biomass loss following site removal but an insufficient predictor of the long-term species losses incurred as a result. We show that, out of five conceptually distinct predictors tested, including biodiversity, area and connectivity measures, the strongest predictor of long-term species loss (conservation value) is compositional distinctness (average between-site Bray-Curtis dissimilarity) of the impacted community. In extreme cases, small sites located in highly distinct habitats can lead to more species loss when removed than large sites located in more common habitats. Fitting our model to observation data on Andean diatoms and Brazilian lichen-fungi, we show that compositional distinctness exceeds area (total biomass) as a predictor of long-term species losses in the empirically relevant parameter range. Since conservation is primarily concerned with maintaining biodiversity, as opposed to undifferentiated biomass, our results robustly demonstrate that site area alone is not sufficient to gauge conservation priorities; comparative assessment of the community composition of sites is essential.

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Temporally robust occupancy frequency distributions in riverine metacommunities explained by local biodiversity regulation

Cited by 2 publications

References 122 publications

Evolution of prudent predation in complex food webs

Evolution of prudent predation in complex food webs

Community composition exceeds area as a predictor of long-term conservation value

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