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Community convergence in a simple microbial food web
Author(s) -
Price Jennifer E.,
Morin Peter J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
ecological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.628
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1440-1703
pISSN - 0912-3814
DOI - 10.1007/s11284-008-0529-6
Subject(s) - intraguild predation , foraging , alternative stable state , ecology , biology , dominance (genetics) , food web , predation , colonization , resource (disambiguation) , computer science , ecosystem , predator , computer network , biochemistry , gene
Previous studies of communities implicate many potential mechanisms that can create alternate stable states. These include density‐dependent foraging behavior, size refuges reached by early colonists, environmental feedback following disturbance, and different initial densities of intraguild predators. Previous work shows that alternate states of varying stability can occur in food webs containing the intraguild predators Blepharisma americanum and Tetrahymena vorax . Differences in colonization history could create the alternate states, consisting of dominance by either Blepharisma or Tetrahymena , but it was unclear whether results depended on effects of initial density or only on changes in the resource base. We manipulated initial densities of both species to determine if density effects alone could create alternate stable states. Convergence of these communities over time indicated that differences in initial density did not create alternate stable states. By default, other factors influenced by colonization history, such as resource availability, may produce alternate states. Models of alternate stable‐state phenomena should incorporate differences in resource availability in addition to direct competitive and predatory interactions to provide a more complete depiction of the causes of differences in community composition in otherwise similar habitats.