Diversification of predators in multi-trophic communities: A trait-based theoretical approach
(2022) BINP52 20212Degree Projects in Bioinformatics
- Abstract
- One of the main challenges in ecology and evolutionary biology is to understand how biodiversity emerges and is maintained, given the complexity of ecological and evolutionary processes combined. Understanding how multi-trophic interactions occur from a theoretical perspective is highly relevant for our understanding of diversification in complex ecosystems. Here, I explore how the diversification of predators is driven by predator-prey interactions in an eco-evolutionary context. I evaluate the effect of ecological and reproductive characteristics of predators on their diversification by using a trait-based and individual-based model. In terms of predator ecological characteristics, I find that higher feeding efficiency and intermediate... (More)
- One of the main challenges in ecology and evolutionary biology is to understand how biodiversity emerges and is maintained, given the complexity of ecological and evolutionary processes combined. Understanding how multi-trophic interactions occur from a theoretical perspective is highly relevant for our understanding of diversification in complex ecosystems. Here, I explore how the diversification of predators is driven by predator-prey interactions in an eco-evolutionary context. I evaluate the effect of ecological and reproductive characteristics of predators on their diversification by using a trait-based and individual-based model. In terms of predator ecological characteristics, I find that higher feeding efficiency and intermediate predator niche widths facilitate diversification through higher population sizes and ecological opportunity respectively. In terms of reproduction, asexual reproduction facilitates predator diversification when compared to sexual reproduction, while the latter can hinder diversification unless assortative mating is high. Finally, high predator mutation rates allow for diversification, but only in combination with the characteristics mentioned before. The model thus improves our mechanistic understanding of the diversification of trophic communities, and it enables us to further study how eco-evolutionary interactions can allow biodiversity to arise. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- How does evolution across the food web result in diversification? A big question in evolutionary biology is what causes life on Earth to diversify. From the mosses and grasses in the arctic tundra to the exotic birds of paradise in Oceania, life comes in all shapes, sizes, and colours. Much of biodiversity is the product of adaptive radiations, the process by which a single species rapidly evolves into many species that adapt in response to newly available resources or changes in their environment. An example of this process is the famous Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos islands, which all descended from a single species and adapted their beak shape depending on the resources available. While some adaptive radiations are driven by... (More)
- How does evolution across the food web result in diversification? A big question in evolutionary biology is what causes life on Earth to diversify. From the mosses and grasses in the arctic tundra to the exotic birds of paradise in Oceania, life comes in all shapes, sizes, and colours. Much of biodiversity is the product of adaptive radiations, the process by which a single species rapidly evolves into many species that adapt in response to newly available resources or changes in their environment. An example of this process is the famous Darwin’s finches in the Galapagos islands, which all descended from a single species and adapted their beak shape depending on the resources available. While some adaptive radiations are driven by competition, other mechanisms such as mate preference and trophic interactions can play a role in diversification. When interactions between trophic levels cause diversification on a lower trophic level (e.g. when predation causes selection on prey), the phenomenon is referred to as “radiation cascades”. Similarly, when these interactions act from a lower to a higher trophic level, and specifically when diversifying prey influences the evolution of predators, it’s referred to as “Upward adaptive radiation cascades”.
In my thesis project, I focus on the latest, where I explore how different predator characteristics affect their diversification using a theoretical model. To achieve this, I simulate prey and predator populations through a model that allows each organism to be represented as an individual entity. With this framework, organisms can interact with each other through competition, predation, and mate choice. Through my simulations, I find that predators diversify more when their niche width (i.e. the broadness of their diet) is intermediate, as well as when their feeding efficiency is high, which affects the number of individuals in the population. Additionally, I also find that diversification occurs more with higher evolutionary potential (represented as mutation rate), though only in combination with the previous characteristics. Finally, I find that predators diversify more when they reproduce with individuals more similar to them. In contrast, when they choose mates randomly, they don’t diversify at all. The theoretical model I use helps us understand the mechanisms behind the diversification in multi-trophic communities, as well as it enables us to extend on the study of the origins of biodiversity through eco-evolutionary interactions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9102714
- author
- Ayala Lopez, Julio Antonio
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- BINP52 20212
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 9102714
- date added to LUP
- 2022-11-04 11:00:51
- date last changed
- 2022-11-04 11:00:51
@misc{9102714,
abstract = {{One of the main challenges in ecology and evolutionary biology is to understand how biodiversity emerges and is maintained, given the complexity of ecological and evolutionary processes combined. Understanding how multi-trophic interactions occur from a theoretical perspective is highly relevant for our understanding of diversification in complex ecosystems. Here, I explore how the diversification of predators is driven by predator-prey interactions in an eco-evolutionary context. I evaluate the effect of ecological and reproductive characteristics of predators on their diversification by using a trait-based and individual-based model. In terms of predator ecological characteristics, I find that higher feeding efficiency and intermediate predator niche widths facilitate diversification through higher population sizes and ecological opportunity respectively. In terms of reproduction, asexual reproduction facilitates predator diversification when compared to sexual reproduction, while the latter can hinder diversification unless assortative mating is high. Finally, high predator mutation rates allow for diversification, but only in combination with the characteristics mentioned before. The model thus improves our mechanistic understanding of the diversification of trophic communities, and it enables us to further study how eco-evolutionary interactions can allow biodiversity to arise.}},
author = {{Ayala Lopez, Julio Antonio}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Diversification of predators in multi-trophic communities: A trait-based theoretical approach}},
year = {{2022}},
}