Department of Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada.
Department of Biology, University of British Columbia, Kelowna, Canada.
Proc Biol Sci. 2020 Mar 25;287(1923):20192312. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2019.2312.
Biodiversity is an important component of healthy ecosystems, and thus understanding the mechanisms behind species coexistence is critical in ecology and conservation biology. In particular, few studies have focused on the dynamics resulting from the co-occurrence of mutualistic and competitive interactions within a group of species. Here we build a mathematical model to study the dynamics of a guild of competitors who are also engaged in mutualistic interactions with a common partner. We show that coexistence as well as competitive exclusion can occur depending on the competition strength and on strength of the mutualistic interactions, and we formulate concrete criteria for predicting invasion success of an alien mutualist based on propagule pressure, alien traits (such as its resource exchange ability) and composition of the recipient community. We find that intra guild diversity promotes the coexistence of species that would otherwise competitively exclude each other, and makes a guild less vulnerable to invasion. Our results can serve as a useful framework to predict the consequences of species manipulation in mutualistic communities.
生物多样性是健康生态系统的重要组成部分,因此理解物种共存背后的机制在生态学和保护生物学中至关重要。特别是,很少有研究关注在一组物种中共存的互惠和竞争相互作用所产生的动态。在这里,我们构建了一个数学模型来研究一群相互竞争的物种与一个共同伙伴之间的互惠相互作用的动态。我们表明,共存以及竞争排斥都可能发生,具体取决于竞争强度和互惠相互作用的强度,我们还制定了具体的标准,根据传播体压力、外来物种的特征(如资源交换能力)以及受体群落的组成,预测外来互惠物种的入侵成功。我们发现,种内多样性促进了原本会相互竞争排斥的物种的共存,并使一个种团更不容易受到入侵。我们的研究结果可以作为一个有用的框架,预测在互惠群落中物种操纵的后果。