Ekrem Runa K, Jacobsen Alexander, Kokko Hanna, Kaiser Tobias S
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Max Planck Research Group Biological Clocks, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, Plön, Germany.
Ecol Lett. 2025 Jun;28(6):e70139. doi: 10.1111/ele.70139.
Temporal niches do not automatically promote coexistence. We combine field data on the marine midge Clunio marinus with a model. In Roscoff (Brittany, France) sympatric C. marinus timing strains emerge at full moon (FM strain) or just before new moon (NM strain). We show that NM individuals reproduce and lay eggs when the water level is higher than during FM strain reproduction, and that this shift partially segregates larvae according to elevation. Modelling the underlying dynamics shows that the causality from temporal to spatial niches is crucial for coexistence: for hypothetical strains which differ in the temporal niche used for reproduction so that they use equivalently low water levels for egg-laying, the dynamics show priority effects, not coexistence. While general theory on temporal niches is rather complex, we highlight the understudied possibility that timing traits cause differences in space use, and coexistence is unproblematic as it results from spatial niches.
时间生态位并不会自动促进共存。我们将关于海蠓（Clunio marinus）的实地数据与一个模型相结合。在罗斯科夫（法国布列塔尼），同域分布的海蠓定时应变在满月时出现（FM应变）或在新月前出现（NM应变）。我们表明，NM个体在水位高于FM应变繁殖期间时进行繁殖和产卵，并且这种变化会根据海拔高度部分地隔离幼虫。对潜在动态进行建模表明，从时间生态位到空间生态位的因果关系对于共存至关重要：对于在用于繁殖的时间生态位上不同的假设应变，以至于它们在产卵时使用同等低水位情况而言，动态显示出优先效应，而非共存。虽然关于时间生态位的一般理论相当复杂，但我们强调了一个研究较少的可能性，即定时特征会导致空间利用上的差异，并且共存是没有问题的，因为它是由空间生态位导致的。
