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Coexistence of competing species of seaweed flies: the role of temperature
Author(s) -
PHILLIPS DAVID S.,
LEGGETT MARGARET,
WILCOCKSON RAY,
DAY THOMAS H.,
ARTHUR WALLACE
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2311.1995.tb00430.x
Subject(s) - biology , competition (biology) , larva , ecology , niche , population , algae , sociology , demography
.1 Competition is shown to be occurring within and between the congeners Coelopa frigida and C.pilipes; it is noted that the two species frequently coexist despite ongoing competition. 2 Observations on natural wrack‐beds indicate that there is a marked difference in the distributions of the larvae: C.frigida larvae aggregate in cooler parts of the bed, C.pilipes in warmer parts. This difference in microdistribution reflects a broader‐scale difference in the geographical distributions of the species ‐ C.pilipes being the more southerly of the two. 3 The larval distributions are shown to be caused primarily by the behaviour of the larvae themselves ‐ not by choices made by ovipositing females, nor (at least to any great extent) by differential survival. 4 The different micro‐distributions within beds constitute a form of niche difference which will cause competitive abilities to be frequency‐dependent and hence have a stabilizing effect. It is possible that this effect may be supplemented by others; and, in particular, effects operating at the level of the‘linear meta‐population’may be worthy of further investigation both in Coelopa and in other coastal species.