Ten Brink Hanna
Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Center of Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeochemistry, Eawag Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Kastanienbaum, Switzerland.
Glob Chang Biol. 2025 May;31(5):e70239. doi: 10.1111/gcb.70239.
Adaptive radiations, where a lineage diversifies into multiple species exploiting different niches, are key drivers of biodiversity. It is therefore important to understand the factors that drive such radiations and how changing environmental conditions affect their persistence. Using a size-structured model, I study how changing environmental conditions impact the persistence of a six-species flock. At birth, individuals are constrained to feed on a shared resource. As they mature, individuals diversify into six specialized forms, each adapted to feed on specific resources. Environmental changes affecting one species can trigger a cascade, altering the size structure of the focal species and subsequently affecting resource availability for other species. Under these altered ecological conditions, coexistence of all species becomes impossible. Importantly, once species are lost, they cannot re-establish even when environmental conditions return to their original state, resulting in irreversible biodiversity loss. These findings underscore the vulnerability of species flocks to environmental change and highlight the potential for unexpected outcomes in the face of shifting ecological conditions due to climate change.
适应性辐射是生物多样性的关键驱动因素，在这种情况下，一个谱系会分化成多个利用不同生态位的物种。因此，了解驱动这种辐射的因素以及不断变化的环境条件如何影响它们的持续存在非常重要。使用一个体型结构模型，我研究了环境条件的变化如何影响一个六种群的持续存在。出生时，个体只能以共享资源为食。随着它们的成熟，个体会分化成六种特化形式，每种形式都适应以特定资源为食。影响一个物种的环境变化会引发连锁反应，改变目标物种的体型结构，进而影响其他物种的资源可用性。在这些改变后的生态条件下，所有物种都无法共存。重要的是，一旦物种消失，即使环境条件恢复到原来的状态，它们也无法重新建立，从而导致不可逆转的生物多样性丧失。这些发现强调了种群对环境变化的脆弱性，并突出了面对气候变化导致的生态条件变化时出现意外结果的可能性。
