Mutualism between consumers and their shared resource can promote competitive coexistence

The American Naturalist
Charlotte T Lee, Brian D Inouye

Abstract

Competitive coexistence depends on dynamic interactions between competitor and resource populations, including mutualism between the resource and each competitor. We add mutualism to a well-known model of resource competition and show that it can powerfully stabilize competitive coexistence in the absence or presence of resource heterogeneity. We use a transition matrix approach to describe lottery competition, while allowing each of two competitors to affect the population dynamics of their shared resource. For example, two plant-defending ant species may compete for nesting space within ant-adapted (myrmecophytic) plants. We show that mutualism between consumers and a resource species can stabilize competitive coexistence of the consumers by allowing each competitor to influence resource dynamics in a way that benefits the other. The effect of this novel coexistence mechanism depends on a mutualism's biological details: for example, altering myrmecophyte fecundity affects competing ant species differently than does altering plant survival. Finally, we consider a heterogeneous resource (e.g., two types of nest site) and show how niche partitioning can stabilize coexistence in the absence of resource dynamics. When resource het...Continue Reading

Citations

May 25, 2013·Journal of Theoretical Biology·Colin T Kremer, Christopher A Klausmeier
Mar 27, 2015·The American Naturalist·Charlotte T Lee
Apr 2, 2013·Journal of Theoretical Biology·Christopher A Johnson, Priyanga Amarasekare
Sep 2, 2011·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·Philip H Crowley, John J Cox
May 16, 2012·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Emily I JonesRégis Ferrière
Apr 21, 2016·Theoretical Population Biology·Ravi Ranjan, Sumanta Bagchi
Mar 30, 2019·Ecology·Christopher A Johnson, Judith L Bronstein
Mar 17, 2017·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Jérôme OrivelCéline Leroy
Jan 24, 2021·Ecology·Andrew SiefertSharon Y Strauss
Jun 4, 2020·Journal of Theoretical Biology·Kelsey M YuleRégis Ferrière

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