Self-organised pattern formation increases local diversity in metacommunities
- Self-organised formation of spatial patterns is known from a variety of different ecosystems, yet little is known about how these patterns affect the diversity of communities. Here, we use a food chain model in which autotroph diversity is described by a continuous distribution of a trait that affects both growth and defence against heterotrophs. On isolated patches, diversity is always lost over time due to stabilising selection, and the local communities settle on one of two alternative stable community states that are characterised by a dominance of either defended or undefended species. In a metacommunity context, dispersal can destabilise these states and complex spatio-temporal patterns in the species' abundances emerge. The resulting biomass-trait feedback increases local diversity by an order of magnitude compared to scenarios without self-organised pattern formation, thereby maintaining the ability of communities to adapt to potential future changes in biotic or abiotic environmental conditions.
Author details: | Christian GuillORCiDGND, Janne HülsemannORCiD, Toni KlauschiesORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13880 |
ISSN: | 1461-023X |
ISSN: | 1461-0248 |
Pubmed ID: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34558161 |
Title of parent work (English): | Ecology letters |
Publisher: | Wiley-Blackwell |
Place of publishing: | Oxford |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2021/09/23 |
Publication year: | 2021 |
Release date: | 2022/10/14 |
Tag: | Turing instability; biomass-trait feedback; diversity; fitness gradient; food chain; functional; metacommunity; self-organisation; source-sink dynamics; spatio-temporal pattern; trait-based aggregate model |
Volume: | 24 |
Issue: | 12 |
Number of pages: | 11 |
First page: | 2624 |
Last Page: | 2634 |
Funding institution: | German Research Foundation (DFG)German Research Foundation (DFG) [GU 1645/1-1] |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Hybrid Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |