Use of Time in the Phenology of Vertical Species Interactions

2019 ◽  
pp. 133-166
Author(s):  
Eric Post
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Resource Interactions ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Consumer Resource

This chapter examines the role of time in vertical species interactions. Vertically structured communities are those shaped primarily by interactions among organisms at different trophic levels. Hence, these comprise exploitation interactions typified by predator—prey interactions, pathogen—host interactions, herbivore—plant interactions, and consumer—resource interactions in general. In such interactions, consumer success—in terms of growth, survival, and reproduction—depends upon synchronization of consumer phenology with resource phenology. In contrast, the success of resource species may depend upon minimizing synchronization of their phenology with that of species by which they are consumed. In mutualistic interactions, however, in which both species function as a resource for one another, the success of both species depends upon phenological overlap. The chapter then explores some examples of the role of time in the phenology of all three types of players in vertical species interactions—resource species, consumer species, and mutualistic species.

Predator–prey interactions and climate change

2019 ◽  
pp. 199-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Bretagnolle ◽  
Julien Terraube
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Generalist Predators ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Key Topics ◽  
Available Information

Climate change is likely to impact all trophic levels, although the response of communities and ecosystems to it has only recently received considerable attention. Further, it is expected to affect the magnitude of species interactions themselves. In this chapter, we summarize why and how climate change could affect predator–prey interactions, then review the literature about its impact on predator–prey relationships in birds, and provide prospects for future studies. Expected effects on prey or predators may include changes in the following: distribution, phenology, population density, behaviour, morphology, or physiology. We review the currently available information concerning particular key topics: top-down versus bottom-up control, specialist versus generalist predators, functional versus numerical responses, trophic cascades and regime shifts, and lastly adaptation and selection. Finally, we focus our review on two well-studied bird examples: seabirds and raptors. Key future topics include long-term studies, modelling and experimental studies, evolutionary questions, and conservation issues.

scholarly journals Evaluating insect-host interactions as a driver of species divergence in palm flower weevils

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno A. S. de Medeiros ◽  
Brian D. Farrell
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Population Divergence ◽  
Insect Host ◽  
Flower Visitors ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Isolation By Environment ◽  
Insect Populations ◽  
Evolutionary Consequences ◽  
Antagonistic Interactions

AbstractPlants and their specialized flower visitors provide valuable insights into the evolutionary consequences of species interactions. In particular, antagonistic interactions between insects and plants have often been invoked as a major driver of diversification. Here we use a tropical community of palms and their specialized insect flower visitors to test whether antagonisms lead to higher population divergence. Interactions between palms and the insects visiting their flowers range from brood pollination to florivory and commensalism, with the latter being species that feed on decaying–and presumably undefended–plant tissues. We test the role of insect-host interactions in the early stages of diversification of nine species of beetles sharing host plants and geographical ranges by first delimiting cryptic species and then using models of genetic isolation by environment. The degree to which insect populations are structured by the genetic divergence of plant populations varies. A hierarchical model reveals that this variation is largely uncorrelated with the kind of interaction, showing that antagonistic interactions are not associated with higher genetic differentiation. Other aspects of host use that affect plant-associated insects regardless of the outcomes of their interactions, such as sensory biases, are likely more general drivers of insect population divergence.

scholarly journals Successful Invasions and Failed Biocontrol: The Role of Antagonistic Species Interactions

BioScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 711-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley N Schulz ◽  
Rima D Lucardi ◽  
Travis D Marsico
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Classical Biological Control ◽  
Enemy Release Hypothesis ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Enemy Release ◽  
Nonnative Species ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Top Down

Abstract Understanding the successes and failures of nonnative species remains challenging. In recent decades, researchers have developed the enemy release hypothesis and other antagonist hypotheses, which posit that nonnative species either fail or succeed in a novel range because of the presence or absence of antagonists. The premise of classical biological control of invasive species is that top-down control works. We identify twelve existing hypotheses that address the roles that antagonists from many trophic levels play during plant and insect invasions in natural environments. We outline a unifying framework of antagonist hypotheses to simplify the relatedness among the hypotheses, incorporate the role of top-down and bottom-up influences on nonnative species, and encourage expansion of experimental assessments of antagonist hypotheses to include belowground and fourth trophic level antagonists. A mechanistic understanding of antagonists and their impacts on nonnative species is critical in a changing world.

Use of Time in the Phenology of Horizontal Species Interactions

2019 ◽  
pp. 107-132
Author(s):  
Eric Post
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Species Assemblage ◽  
Competing Interests ◽  
Use Of Time ◽  
Allocation Of Time ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Competition For Resources

This chapter addresses the role of time in horizontal species interactions. Horizontal, or lateral, species interactions are those involving individuals within a single trophic level in the same local community or species assemblage. These involve primarily interference interactions such as competition for resources required by more than one member of the local assemblage. The chapter then considers the allocation of time within an individual organism's life history cycle. The use of time by the individual must address potentially strongly competing interests. In a competitive context, while earlier timing of life history events may in and of itself present a competitive advantage among conspecifics, its value as a strategy in interspecific competition relates to its effect on phenological duration. This is because duration determines overlap within the phenological community.

The fundamentals of predator–prey interactions

2019 ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Gary G. Mittelbach ◽  
Brian J. McGill
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Predator Prey Model ◽  
Fundamental Building Block ◽  
Prey Model ◽  
Predator Prey Models ◽  
Consumer Resource

This chapter introduces the concept of the consumer-resource link, the idea that each species in a community consumes resources and is itself consumed by other species. The consumer–resource link is the fundamental building block from which more-complex food chains and food webs are constructed. The chapter continues by exploring what is arguably the simplest consumer–resource interaction—one predator species feeding on one species of prey. Important topics discussed in the context of predator–prey interactions are the predator’s functional response, the Lotka–Volterra predator–prey model, the Rosenzweig–MacArthur predator–prey model, and the suppression-stability trade-off. Isocline analysis is introduced as a method for visualizing the outcome of species interactions at steady-state or equilibrium. Herbivory and parasitism are briefly discussed within the context of general predator–prey models.

scholarly journals Strong nutrient-plant interactions enhance the stability of ecosystems

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachariah G. Schonberger ◽  
Kevin McCann ◽  
Gabriel Gellner
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Webs ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Ecosystem Models ◽  
Resource Interactions ◽  
Ecosystem Theory ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Ecosystem Interactions ◽  
Food Web Theory

AbstractModular food web theory shows how weak energetic fluxes resulting from consumptive interactions plays a major role in stabilizing food webs in space and time. Despite the reliance on energetic fluxes, food web theory surprisingly remains poorly understood within an ecosystem context that naturally focuses on material fluxes. At the same time, while ecosystem theory has employed modular nutrient-limited ecosystem models to understand how limiting nutrients alter the structure and dynamics of food webs, ecosystem theory has overlooked the role of key ecosystem interactions and their strengths (e.g., plant-nutrient; R-N) in mediating the stability of nutrient-limited ecosystems. Here, towards integrating food web theory and ecosystem theory, we first briefly review consumer-resource interactions (C-R) highlighting the relationship between the structure of C-R interactions and the stability of food web modules. We then translate this framework to nutrient-based systems, showing that the nutrient-plant interaction behaves as a coherent extension of current modular food web theory; however, in contrast to the rule that weak C-R interactions tend to be stabilizing we show that strong nutrient-plant interactions are potent stabilizers in nutrient-limited ecosystem models.

scholarly journals Stochastic dynamics of consumer-resource interactions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhyudai Singh
Keyword(s):  
Attack Rate ◽  
Stochastic Dynamics ◽  
Reproduction Rate ◽  
Population Densities ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Density Dependent ◽  
Predator Prey Model ◽  
Predator Attack ◽  
Resource Interactions ◽  
Consumer Resource

AbstractThe interaction between a consumer (such as, a predator or a parasitoid) and a resource (such as, a prey or a host) forms an integral motif in ecological food webs, and has been modeled since the early 20th century starting from the seminal work of Lotka and Volterra. While the Lotka-Volterra predator-prey model predicts a neutrally stable equilibrium with oscillating population densities, a density-dependent predator attack rate is known to stabilize the equilibrium. Here, we consider a stochastic formulation of the Lotka-Volterra model where the prey’s reproduction rate is a random process, and the predator’s attack rate depends on both the prey and predator population densities. Analysis shows that increasing the sensitivity of the attack rate to the prey density attenuates the magnitude of stochastic fluctuations in the population densities. In contrast, these fluctuations vary non-monotonically with the sensitivity of the attack rate to the predator density with an optimal level of sensitivity minimizing the magnitude of fluctuations. Interestingly, our systematic study of the predator-prey correlations reveals distinct signatures depending on the form of the density-dependent attack rate. In summary, stochastic dynamics of nonlinear Lotka-Volterra models can be harnessed to infer density-dependent mechanisms regulating consumer-resource interactions. Moreover, these mechanisms can have contrasting consequences on population fluctuations, with predator-dependent attack rates amplifying stochasticity, while prey-dependent attack rates countering to buffer fluctuations.

VIRUS–HOST INTERACTIONS, WITH EMPHASIS ON CERTAIN CYTOPATHIC PHENOMENA

1967 ◽  
Vol 45 (8) ◽  
pp. 1221-1234 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. W. J. Ragetli
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Rna Virus ◽  
Hydrolytic Enzymes ◽  
Symptom Expression ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Host Interactions ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Virus Strains

The apparent role played by each participant in virus–plant interactions, as suggested by symptom expression, is discussed. To explain the markedly different reactions of identical hosts to closely related virus strains, it is proposed on the basis of present concepts regarding protein synthesis and RNA-virus replication, that the viral genome, insofar as it does not code for coat protein and for enzyme(s) required for replication of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA), may be "translated" into protein acting as the true cytopathic agent.Information on the nature of certain viral-cytopathogenic effects in hypersensitive and susceptible hosts, mainly as revealed by electron microscopy, is presented. The dramatic and fatal intracellular disorganization shown by hypersensitive hosts and suggestive of cytolytic processes invited a search for the presence and possible role of organelles containing hydrolytic enzymes (lysosomes). The in vitro detection of particle-bound acid phosphatase in different types of organelles, confirmed by electron microscopy, may explain at least some aspect of the observed cellular degeneration.

scholarly journals The logic of ecological patchiness

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Grünbaum
Keyword(s):  
Species Interactions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Mean Field ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Ecological Indices ◽  
Ecological Interactions ◽  
Patchy Environments ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Resource Interactions ◽  
Consumer Resource

Most ecological interactions occur in environments that are spatially and temporally heterogeneous—‘patchy’—across a wide range of scales. In contrast, most theoretical models of ecological interactions, especially large-scale models applied to societal issues such as climate change, resource management and human health, are based on ‘mean field’ approaches in which the underlying patchiness of interacting consumers and resources is intentionally averaged out. Mean field ecological models typically have the advantages of tractability, few parameters and clear interpretation; more technically complex spatially explicit models, which resolve ecological patchiness at some (or all relevant) scales, generally lack these advantages. This report presents a heuristic analysis that incorporates important elements of consumer–resource patchiness with minimal technical complexity. The analysis uses scaling arguments to establish conditions under which key mechanisms—movement, reproduction and consumption—strongly affect consumer–resource interactions in patchy environments. By very general arguments, the relative magnitudes of these three mechanisms are quantified by three non-dimensional ecological indices: the Frost, Strathmann and Lessard numbers. Qualitative analysis based on these ecological indices provides a basis for conjectures concerning the expected characteristics of organisms, species interactions and ecosystems in patchy environments.

scholarly journals Inquiline predator increases nutrient-cycling efficiency of Nepenthes rafflesiana pitchers

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (12) ◽  
pp. 20190691
Author(s):  
Weng Ngai Lam ◽  
Ying Yi Chou ◽  
Felicia Wei Shan Leong ◽  
Hugh Tiang Wah Tan
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Data ◽  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Ecosystem Functioning ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Resource Model ◽  
Pitcher Plants ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Invertebrate Prey ◽  
Cycling Efficiency ◽  
Consumer Resource

The modified-leaf pitchers of Nepenthes rafflesiana pitcher plants are aquatic, allochthonous ecosystems that are inhabited by specialist inquilines and sustained by the input of invertebrate prey. Detritivorous inquilines are known to increase the nutrient-cycling efficiency (NCE) of pitchers but it is unclear whether predatory inquilines that prey on these detritivores decrease the NCE of pitchers by reducing detritivore populations or increase the NCE of pitchers by processing nutrients that may otherwise be locked up in detritivore biomass. Nepenthosyrphus is a small and poorly studied genus of hoverflies and the larvae of one such species is a facultatively detritivorous predator that inhabits the pitchers of N. rafflesiana . We fitted a consumer–resource model to experimental data collected from this system. Simulations showed that systems containing the predator at equilibrium almost always had higher NCEs than those containing only prey (detritivore) species. We showed using a combination of simulated predator/prey exclusions that the processing of the resource through multiple pathways and trophic levels in this system is more efficient than that accomplished through fewer pathways and trophic levels. Our results thus support the vertical diversity hypothesis, which predicts that greater diversity across trophic levels results in greater ecosystem functioning.

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