Publication Date:
2004-10-02
Description:
Ecological theory predicts that competition for a limiting resource will lead to the exclusion of species unless the within-species effects outweigh the between-species effects. Understanding how multiple competitors might coexist on a single resource has focused on the prescriptive formalism of a necessary niche width and limiting similarity. Here, we show how continuously varying life histories and trade-offs in these characteristics can allow multiple competitors to coexist, and we reveal how limiting similarity emerges and is shaped by the ecological and evolutionary characteristics of competitors. In this way, we illustrate how the interplay of ecological and evolutionary processes acts to shape ecological communities in a unique way. This leads us to argue that evolutionary processes (life-history trait trade-offs) are fundamental to the understanding of the structure of ecological communities.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bonsall, Michael B -- Jansen, Vincent A A -- Hassell, Michael P -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Oct 1;306(5693):111-4.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK. m.bonsall@imperial.ac.uk〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15459391" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Animals
;
*Biodiversity
;
*Biological Evolution
;
Competitive Behavior
;
Conservation of Natural Resources
;
*Ecosystem
;
*Host-Parasite Interactions
;
Larva/*parasitology/physiology
;
Longevity
;
Mathematics
;
Models, Biological
;
Parasites/*physiology
;
Population Dynamics
;
Probability
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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