Climate Change and Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics in Food Webs

Moya-Laraño, Jordi; Verdeny-Vilalta, Oriol; Rowntree, Jennifer K.; Melguizo‐Ruiz, Nereida; Montserrat, Marta; Laiolo, Paola

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-398315-2.00001-6

Cited by 32 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 192 publications

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“…natural selection can play an important role in shaping consumerresource dynamics (22,23). Understanding how evolutionary processes affect the structure and dynamics of ecological networks, and vice versa (24,25), is likely a fruitful topic for future research.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic specificity of a plant–insect food web: Implications for linking genetic variation to network complexity

Barbour

Fortuna

Bascompte

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Theory predicts that intraspecific genetic variation can increase the complexity of an ecological network. To date, however, we are lacking empirical knowledge of the extent to which genetic variation determines the assembly of ecological networks, as well as how the gain or loss of genetic variation will affect network structure. To address this knowledge gap, we used a common garden experiment to quantify the extent to which heritable trait variation in a host plant determines the assembly of its associated insect food web (network of trophic interactions). We then used a resampling procedure to simulate the additive effects of genetic variation on overall food-web complexity. We found that trait variation among host-plant genotypes was associated with resistance to insect herbivores, which indirectly affected interactions between herbivores and their insect parasitoids. Direct and indirect genetic effects resulted in distinct compositions of trophic interactions associated with each host-plant genotype. Moreover, our simulations suggest that food-web complexity would increase by 20% over the range of genetic variation in the experimental population of host plants. Taken together, our results indicate that intraspecific genetic variation can play a key role in structuring ecological networks, which may in turn affect network persistence.species interactions | ecological networks | evolutionary ecology | community genetics N etwork theory has provided both a conceptual and a quantitative approach for mapping interactions between species and making predictions about how the gain or loss of species will affect the structure and dynamics of ecological networks (1-3). Representing a network at the species level, however, makes the implicit assumption that each species consists of a homogenous population of individuals, all of which interact equally with individuals of different species. However, most populations are heterogeneous mixtures of individuals that vary in their phenotypes, and there is growing evidence that this intraspecific variation is an important factor governing the assembly of ecological communities (4-6). Consequently, there is a clear need to account for the role of intraspecific variation in structuring ecological networks (7).Genetic variation is a key driver of intraspecific variation and many studies have now demonstrated direct and indirect genetic effects on species interactions (8-10) and the composition of communities across multiple trophic levels (11)(12)(13)(14). This prior work forms a clear expectation that intraspecific genetic variation is capable of scaling up to affect the structure of an ecological network. In particular, we expect that network structure will be affected by genetic variation through at least two different mechanisms. For a food web (network of trophic interactions), genetic variation in the quality of a basal resource may alter the (i) abundances or (ii) phenotypes of consumer species or both (15). These direct genetic effects on consumers may then have cascadi...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic specificity of a plant–insect food web: Implications for linking genetic variation to network complexity

Barbour

Fortuna

Bascompte

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…Its influence may be direct, on individual metabolism and development, or indirect, when it alters habitats or the way species interact [4], [5], [6]. Previous studies have suggested that the frequency of biotic interactions may decline when environmental conditions become harsher (“Stress Gradient Hypothesis” [7], [8], [9]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate-Driven Variation in the Intensity of a Host-Symbiont Animal Interaction along a Broad Elevation Gradient

et al. 2014

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Gradients of environmental stress may affect biotic interactions in unpredictable ways responding to climate variation, depending on the abiotic stress tolerance of interacting partners. Here, we study the effect of local climate on the intensity of feather mites in six mountain passerines along a 1400 m elevational gradient characterized by shifting temperature and rainfall. Although obligatory symbionts of warm-blooded organisms are assumed to live in mild and homeothermic environments, those inhabiting external, non-blood-irrigated body portions of the host organism, such as feather mites, are expected to endure exposure to the direct influence of a fluctuating climate. As expected, feather mite intensity declined with elevation in all bird species, a pattern that was also found in cold-adapted passerines that have typical alpine habits. The elevation cline was mainly explained by a positive effect of the average temperature upon mite intensity in five of the six species studied. Precipitation explained less variance in mite intensity than average temperature, and showed a negative correlation in half of the studied species. We found no climate-driven migration of mites along the wings of birds, no replacement of mite species along elevation gradients and no association with available food resources for mites (estimated by the size of the uropygial gland). This study suggests that ectosymbionts of warm-blooded animals may be highly sensitive to climatic variation and become less abundant under stressful environmental conditions, providing empirical evidence of the decline of specialized biotic interactions among animal species at high elevations.

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“…What is not clear, however, is the relative strength and contribution of the different ecological mechanisms linked to trait variation (Bolnick et al, 2011), or how these shift with changing environmental conditions. Some recent progress has been made with inter-specific competition and trophic interactions, and also with linking ecological and evolutionary dynamics via the food web (Bolnick et al, 2011;Melian et al, 2011;Moya-Larano et al, 2012;Thompson et al, 2013). There is a need now to bring together studies of trait variation and environmental fluctuation within mesocosm experiments and to meld these with appropriate modelling approaches.…”

Section: Future Directions: New Responsesmentioning

confidence: 99%