A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal

Effects of phenotypic variation on consumer coexistence and prey community structure




AuthorsHogle Shane L., Hepolehto Iina, Ruokolainen Lasse, Cairns Johannes, Hiltunen Teppo

PublisherWILEY

Publication year2022

JournalEcology Letters

Journal name in sourceECOLOGY LETTERS

Journal acronymECOL LETT

Volume25

Issue2

First page 307

Last page319

Number of pages13

ISSN1461-023X

eISSN1461-0248

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13924(external)

Web address https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13924(external)

Self-archived copy’s web addresshttps://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/68056681(external)


Abstract
A popular idea in ecology is that trait variation among individuals from the same species may promote the coexistence of competing species. However, theoretical and empirical tests of this idea have yielded inconsistent findings. We manipulated intraspecific trait diversity in a ciliate competing with a nematode for bacterial prey in experimental microcosms. We found that intraspecific trait variation inverted the original competitive hierarchy to favour the consumer with variable traits, ultimately resulting in competitive exclusion. This competitive outcome was driven by foraging traits (size, speed and directionality) that increased the ciliate's fitness ratio and niche overlap with the nematode. The interplay between consumer trait variation and competition resulted in non-additive cascading effects-mediated through prey defence traits-on prey community assembly. Our results suggest that predicting consumer competitive population dynamics and the assembly of prey communities will require understanding the complexities of trait variation within consumer species.

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Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 13:40