The evolution of the competition-dispersal trade-off affects alpha- and beta-diversity in a heterogeneous metacommunity

Abstract

Difference in dispersal ability is a key driver of species coexistence in metacommunities. However, the available frameworks for interpreting species diversity patterns in natura often overlook trade-offs and evolutionary constraints associated with dispersal. Here, we build a metacommunity model accounting for dispersal evolution and a competition-dispersal trade-off. Depending on the distribution of carrying capacities among communities, species dispersal values are distributed either around a single strategy (evolutionarily stable strategy, ESS), or around distinct strategies (evolutionary branching, EB). We show that limited dispersal generates spatial aggregation of dispersal traits in ESS and EB scenarios, and that the competition-dispersal trade-off strengthens the pattern in the EB scenario. Importantly, individuals in larger (respectively (resp.) smaller) communities tend to harbour lower (resp. higher) dispersal, especially under the EB scenario. We explore how dispersal evolution affects species diversity patterns by comparing those from our model to the predictions of a neutral metacommunity model. The most marked difference is detected under EB, with distinctive values of both alpha- and beta-diversity (e.g. the dissimilarity in species composition between small and large communities was significantly larger than neutral predictions). We conclude that, from an empirical perspective, jointly assessing community carrying capacity with species dispersal strategies should improve our understanding of diversity patterns in metacommunities.

Keywords

neutral theory; evolutionary branching; null models; coalescence; T-statistics

Published in

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
2016, volume: 283, number: 1829, article number: 20160548
Publisher: ROYAL SOC

SLU Authors

• Laroche, Fabien

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    
  • AgroParisTech
  • Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionelle & Evolutive (CEFE/CNRS)
  • National research institute of science and technology for environment and agriculture (IRSTEA)

UKÄ Subject classification

Evolutionary Biology
Ecology

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2016.0548

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/83266