1
|
Goldman DA, Xue KS, Parrott AB, Jeeda RR, Franzese LR, Lopez JG, Vila JCC, Petrov DA, Good BH, Relman DA, Huang KC. Competition for shared resources increases dependence on initial population size during coalescence of gut microbial communities. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.11.29.569120. [PMID: 38076867 PMCID: PMC10705444 DOI: 10.1101/2023.11.29.569120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2023]
Abstract
The long-term success of introduced populations depends on their initial size and ability to compete against existing residents, but it remains unclear how these factors collectively shape colonization. Here, we investigate how initial population (propagule) size and resource competition interact during community coalescence by systematically mixing eight pairs of in vitro microbial communities at ratios that vary over six orders of magnitude, and we compare our results to a neutral ecological model. Although the composition of the resulting co-cultures deviated substantially from neutral expectations, each co-culture contained species whose relative abundance depended on propagule size even after ~40 generations of growth. Using a consumer-resource model, we show that this dose-dependent colonization can arise when resident and introduced species have high niche overlap and consume shared resources at similar rates. This model predicts that propagule size will have larger, longer-lasting effects in diverse communities in which niche overlap is higher, and we experimentally confirm that strain isolates show stronger dose dependence when introduced into diverse communities than in pairwise co-culture. This work shows how neutral-like colonization dynamics can emerge from non-neutral resource competition and have lasting effects on the outcomes of community coalescence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Doran A. Goldman
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Katherine S. Xue
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Autumn B. Parrott
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Rashi R. Jeeda
- Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
| | - Lauryn R. Franzese
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Jaime G. Lopez
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Jean C. C. Vila
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Dmitri A. Petrov
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Benjamin H. Good
- Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
- Department of Applied Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - David A. Relman
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Infectious Diseases Section, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA
| | - Kerwyn Casey Huang
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Affiliation(s)
- Guy Bunin
- Dept of Physics, Technion‐Israel Inst. of Technology Haifa Israel
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Lance AC, Burke DJ, Hausman CE, Burns JH. High‐throughput sequencing provides insight into manipulated soil fungal community structure and diversity during temperate forest restoration. Restor Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Andrew C. Lance
- Department of Biology Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH 44106 U.S.A
| | - David J. Burke
- Department of Biology Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH 44106 U.S.A
- Holden Arboretum 9500 Sperry Road Kirtland OH 44094 U.S.A
| | | | - Jean H. Burns
- Department of Biology Case Western Reserve University Cleveland OH 44106 U.S.A
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Bisschop K, Mortier F, Bonte D, Etienne RS. Performance in a novel environment subject to ghost competition. PeerJ 2020; 8:e8931. [PMID: 32391198 PMCID: PMC7195835 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.8931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 03/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background A central tenet of the evolutionary theory of communities is that competition impacts evolutionary processes such as local adaptation. Species in a community exert a selection pressure on other species and may drive them to extinction. We know, however, very little about the influence of unsuccessful or ghost species on the evolutionary dynamics within the community. Methods Here we report the long-term influence of a ghost competitor on the performance of a more successful species using experimental evolution. We transferred the spider mite Tetranychus urticae onto a novel host plant under initial presence or absence of a competing species, the congeneric mite T. ludeni. Results The competitor species, T. ludeni, unintentionally went extinct soon after the start of the experiment, but we nevertheless completed the experiment and found that the early competitive pressure of this ghost competitor positively affected the performance (i.e., fecundity) of the surviving species, T. urticae. This effect on T. urticae lasted for at least 25 generations. Discussion Our study suggests that early experienced selection pressures can exert a persistent evolutionary signal on species’ performance in novel environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen Bisschop
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.,Department of Biology, Universiteit Gent, Ghent, Belgium
| | | | - Dries Bonte
- Department of Biology, Universiteit Gent, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Rampal S Etienne
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Amor DR, Ratzke C, Gore J. Transient invaders can induce shifts between alternative stable states of microbial communities. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaay8676. [PMID: 32128414 PMCID: PMC7030923 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aay8676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 12/04/2019] [Indexed: 05/02/2023]
Abstract
Microbial dispersal often leads to the arrival of outsider organisms into ecosystems. When their arrival gives rise to successful invasions, outsider species establish within the resident community, which can markedly alter the ecosystem. Seemingly less influential, the potential impact of unsuccessful invaders that interact only transiently with the community has remained largely ignored. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that these transient invasions can induce a lasting transition to an alternative stable state, even when the invader species itself does not survive the transition. First, we develop a mechanistic understanding of how environmental changes caused by these transient invaders can drive a community shift in a simple, bistable model system. Beyond this, we show that transient invaders can also induce switches between stable states in more complex communities isolated from natural soil samples. Our results demonstrate that short-term interactions with an invader species can induce lasting shifts in community composition and function.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jeff Gore
- Corresponding author. (J.G.); (D.A.)
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Ye P, Yang C, Liang W. Nest site availability and niche differentiation between two cavity-nesting birds in time and space. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:11904-11910. [PMID: 31695896 PMCID: PMC6822027 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2019] [Revised: 09/09/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Niche differentiation is a key concept in the field of ecology and refers to the process by which competing species within an ecological community partition utilization of environmental resources to achieve coexistence. The existence of niche differentiation is uniquely difficult to prove on account of the fact that historical interaction among species, which plays a key role in elucidating the current state of coexistence among species, is not well known. We created continuous niche gradients in nest-site resources between two sympatric secondary cavity-nesting birds, the green-backed tit (Parus monticolus) and the russet sparrow (Passer cinnamomeus), and investigated whether nesting site is a factor contributing to limiting breeding overlap by regular inspection and 388,160 min of film recording. Our results indicate that although we manipulated nest site availability to be uniformly high along the habitat gradient, the two bird species have little overlap in nest sites and rarely compete for them. Furthermore, the green-backed tit possessed a wide range of fundamental niche that covered that of the russet sparrow, while their reproductive time was largely segregated. The sparrow was more aggressive and outcompeted the tit in their overlapped range. These results suggest that even though nesting sites are crucial to the reproduction of cavity-nesting birds, some other factor plays a more important role in limiting niche overlap between sparrows and tits in space and time. Given that these two cavity-nesting birds continued to use different habitats and breed in segregated time after our manipulation, their relationship is better explained by the ghost of competition past theory.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ping Ye
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical IslandsCollege of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Canchao Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical IslandsCollege of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| | - Wei Liang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Ecology of Tropical IslandsCollege of Life SciencesHainan Normal UniversityHaikouChina
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Liautaud K, van Nes EH, Barbier M, Scheffer M, Loreau M. Superorganisms or loose collections of species? A unifying theory of community patterns along environmental gradients. Ecol Lett 2019; 22:1243-1252. [PMID: 31134748 PMCID: PMC6642053 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2019] [Revised: 03/02/2019] [Accepted: 04/30/2019] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
The question whether communities should be viewed as superorganisms or loose collections of individual species has been the subject of a long-standing debate in ecology. Each view implies different spatiotemporal community patterns. Along spatial environmental gradients, the organismic view predicts that species turnover is discontinuous, with sharp boundaries between communities, while the individualistic view predicts gradual changes in species composition. Using a spatially explicit multispecies competition model, we show that organismic and individualistic forms of community organisation are two limiting cases along a continuum of outcomes. A high variance of competition strength leads to the emergence of organism-like communities due to the presence of alternative stable states, while weak and uniform interactions induce gradual changes in species composition. Dispersal can play a confounding role in these patterns. Our work highlights the critical importance of considering species interactions to understand and predict the responses of species and communities to environmental changes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin Liautaud
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and
Experimental Ecology Station, UMR 5321, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis,
France
| | - Egbert H. van Nes
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University,
Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Matthieu Barbier
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and
Experimental Ecology Station, UMR 5321, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis,
France
| | - Marten Scheffer
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University,
Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Michel Loreau
- Centre for Biodiversity Theory and Modelling, Theoretical and
Experimental Ecology Station, UMR 5321, CNRS and Paul Sabatier University, Moulis,
France
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Bisschop K, Mortier F, Etienne RS, Bonte D. Transient local adaptation and source-sink dynamics in experimental populations experiencing spatially heterogeneous environments. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190738. [PMID: 31238842 PMCID: PMC6599998 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Local adaptation is determined by the strength of selection and the level of gene flow within heterogeneous landscapes. The presence of benign habitat can act as an evolutionary stepping stone for local adaptation to challenging environments by providing the necessary genetic variation. At the same time, migration load from benign habitats will hinder adaptation. In a community context, interspecific competition is expected to select against maladapted migrants, hence reducing migration load and facilitating adaptation. As the interplay between competition and spatial heterogeneity on the joint ecological and evolutionary dynamics of populations is poorly understood, we performed an evolutionary experiment using the herbivore spider mite Tetranychus urticae as a model. We studied the species's demography and local adaptation in a challenging environment that consisted of an initial sink (pepper plants) and/or a more benign environment (cucumber plants). Half of the experimental populations were exposed to a competitor, the congeneric T. ludeni. We show that while spider mites only adapted to the challenging pepper environment when it was spatially interspersed with benign cucumber habitat, this adaptation was only temporary and disappeared when the populations in the benign cucumber environment were expanding and spilling-over to the challenging pepper environment. Although the focal species outcompeted the competitor after about two months, a negative effect of competition on the focal species's performance persisted in the benign environment. Adaptation to challenging habitat in heterogeneous landscapes thus highly depends on demography and source-sink dynamics, but also on competitive interactions with other species, even if they are only present for a short time span.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen Bisschop
- 1 Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen , PO Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen , The Netherlands.,2 TEREC (Terrestrial Ecology Unit), Department of Biology, Ghent University , Karel Lodewijk Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent , Belgium
| | - Frederik Mortier
- 2 TEREC (Terrestrial Ecology Unit), Department of Biology, Ghent University , Karel Lodewijk Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent , Belgium
| | - Rampal S Etienne
- 1 Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen , PO Box 11103, 9700 CC Groningen , The Netherlands
| | - Dries Bonte
- 2 TEREC (Terrestrial Ecology Unit), Department of Biology, Ghent University , Karel Lodewijk Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Ghent , Belgium
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Tuck SL, Porter J, Rees M, Turnbull LA. Strong responses from weakly interacting species. Ecol Lett 2018; 21:1845-1852. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.13163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2018] [Revised: 06/21/2018] [Accepted: 08/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sean L. Tuck
- Department of Plant Sciences; University of Oxford; South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3RB UK
| | - Janielle Porter
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies; University of Zurich; Zurich 8057 Switzerland
| | - Mark Rees
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences; Western Bank; University of Sheffield; Sheffield S3 7HF UK
| | - Lindsay A. Turnbull
- Department of Plant Sciences; University of Oxford; South Parks Road Oxford OX1 3RB UK
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Buchberger F, Stockenreiter M. Unsuccessful invaders structure a natural freshwater phytoplankton community. Ecosphere 2018. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.2158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Felicitas Buchberger
- Department of Biology II; Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich; Grosshaderner Street 2 82152 Planegg-Martinsried Germany
| | - Maria Stockenreiter
- Department of Biology II; Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich; Grosshaderner Street 2 82152 Planegg-Martinsried Germany
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Legacy effects of developmental stages determine the functional role of predators. Nat Ecol Evol 2017; 1:38. [PMID: 28812616 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-016-0038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2016] [Accepted: 11/21/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Predators are instrumental in structuring natural communities and ecosystem processes. The strong effects of predators are often attributed to their high trophic position in the food web. However, most predators have to grow and move up the food chain before reaching their final trophic position, and during this developmental process their traits, interactions and abundances change. Here, we show that this process of 'moving up' the food chain during development strongly determines the ecological role of a predator. By experimentally manipulating the succession of developmental stages of a predatory salamander in a seasonal aquatic ecosystem, we found that the effects of this apex predator on the ecosystem typically declined with age and size. Furthermore, younger, smaller predator stages had long-lasting effects on community structure and ecosystem function that determined the effects of subsequent older, larger stages. Consequently, the legacy effects of early stages largely shaped the impact of the predator on the ecosystem, which could not simply be inferred from its final trophic position. Our results highlight that accounting for all life stages when managing natural populations is crucial to preserve the functioning of natural ecosystems, especially given that early life stages of species are often particularly vulnerable to natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
Collapse
|
12
|
Holmes CJ, Figary S, Schulz KL, Cáceres CE. Effects of diversity on community assembly in newly formed pond communities. Ecosphere 2016. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J. Holmes
- Department of Animal Biology School of Integrative Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign 515 Morrill Hall 505 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana Illinois 61801 USA
| | - Stephanie Figary
- Department of Environmental and Forest Biology College of Environmental Science and Forestry State University of New York 1 Forestry Drive Syracuse New York 13210 USA
| | - Kimberly L. Schulz
- Department of Environmental and Forest Biology College of Environmental Science and Forestry State University of New York 1 Forestry Drive Syracuse New York 13210 USA
| | - Carla E. Cáceres
- Department of Animal Biology School of Integrative Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign 515 Morrill Hall 505 S. Goodwin Avenue Urbana Illinois 61801 USA
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Sikes BA, Hawkes CV, Fukami T. Plant and root endophyte assembly history: interactive effects on native and exotic plants. Ecology 2016; 97:484-93. [PMID: 27145622 DOI: 10.1890/15-0635.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Differences in the arrival timing of plants and soil biota may result in different plant communities through priority effects, potentially affecting the success of native vs. exotic plants, but experimental evidence is largely lacking. We conducted a greenhouse experiment to investigate whether the assembly history of plants and fungal root endophytes could interact to influence plant emergence and biomass. We introduced a grass species and eight fungal species from one of three land-use types (undisturbed, disturbed, or pasture sites in a Florida scrubland) in factorial combinations. We then introduced all plants and fungi from the other land-use types 2 weeks later. Plant emergence was monitored for 6 months, and final plant biomass and fungal species composition assessed. The emergence and growth of the exotic Melinis repens and the native Schizacharyium niveum were affected negatively when introduced early with their "home" fungi, but early introduction of a different plant species or fungi from a different site type eliminated these negative effects, providing evidence for interactive priority effects. Interactive effects of plant and fungal arrival history may be an overlooked determinant of plant community structure and may provide an effective management tool to inhibit biological invasion and aid ecosystem restoration.
Collapse
|
14
|
Heckel CD, Bourg NA, McShea WJ, Kalisz S. Nonconsumptive effects of a generalist ungulate herbivore drive decline of unpalatable forest herbs. Ecology 2010; 91:319-26. [PMID: 20391995 DOI: 10.1890/09-0628.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
High herbivore pressure is expected to benefit unpalatable species that co-occur with palatable browsed species. However, for five unpalatable understory species we found no evidence of benefit from deer browse. Detailed studies of one species in natural populations, Arisaema triphyllum, revealed surprising changes in its population structure and demography: deer browse level on a palatable species significantly correlates with reduced plant size and seed rain and male-biased sex ratios of co-occurring Arisaema populations. Analyses of individual size in five unpalatable forest plant species in long-term experimental paired deer exclosure/deer access plots corroborate the natural site results; all five species were smaller in deer access plots. Analyses of abiotic variables in natural and experimental sites suggest one potential mechanism for indirect effects of deer. Deer-mediated soil quality declines included increased soil penetration resistance and decreased leaf litter depth, which are known to hinder plant growth. Our results are likely applicable to other unpalatable forest species and have clear consequences for understory biodiversity. Unpalatable plant species in forests experiencing high deer numbers may be in decline along with their palatable neighbors. Our study implicates deer overabundance in the cascade of forest species decline and the urgency of this conservation issue in North America.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher D Heckel
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, A234 Langley Hall, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|