Indirect Interactions Shape Selection in a Multispecies Food Web.

The American Naturalist
Denon StartBenjamin Gilbert

Abstract

Species do not live, interact, or evolve in isolation but are instead members of complex ecological communities. In ecological terms, complex multispecies interactions can be understood by considering indirect effects that are mediated by changes in traits and abundances of intermediate species. Interestingly, traits and abundances are also central to our understanding of phenotypic selection, suggesting that indirect effects may be extended to understand evolution in complex communities. Here we explore indirect ecological effects and their evolutionary corollary in a well-understood food web comprising a plant, its herbivores, and enemies that select for opposite defensive phenotypes in one of the herbivores. We show that ecological indirect interactions are mediated by changes to both the traits and the abundances of intermediate species and that these changes ultimately reduce enemy attack and weaken selection. We discuss the generality of the link between indirect effects and selection. We go on to argue that local adaptation and eco-evolutionary feedback may be less likely in complex multispecies food webs than in simpler food chains (e.g., coevolution). Overall, considering selection in complex interaction networks can f...Continue Reading

Associated Datasets

Citations

Jul 30, 2019·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Jakob Bro-JørgensenKristine Meise
Nov 5, 2019·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Denon StartColin Bonner
Mar 19, 2020·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Denon Start
Oct 3, 2020·Ecology and Evolution·Amanda K WeaverScott P Egan
Jun 18, 2020·Evolution Letters·Matthew A BarbourJordi Bascompte
Jan 21, 2021·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Daan MertensErik H Poelman
Apr 23, 2021·PloS One·Adam J SchlengerRichard F Ambrose

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