Ecology最新文献

{"title":"The impact of serpentine soils on plant traits and plant–herbivore interactions","authors":"Xoaquín Moreira,&nbsp;Luis Abdala-Roberts,&nbsp;Carla Vázquez-González,&nbsp;María Rúnarsdóttir,&nbsp;Kaori Shiojiri,&nbsp;Beatriz Lago-Núñez,&nbsp;Asier R. Larrinaga,&nbsp;Felisa Covelo,&nbsp;Irene Virseda,&nbsp;Paula Domínguez-Lapido,&nbsp;Madeleine Kark,&nbsp;Ayco J. M. Tack,&nbsp;Richard Karban","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70171","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70171","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Serpentine soils, known for high heavy metal content and low nutrients, create harsh conditions for plants and herbivores. Although previous research has explored how serpentine soils affect herbivory, most studies have been restricted to a specific region, and the mechanisms involved remain unclear. Here, we conducted a large-scale study across 78 plant species from California, Spain, and Sweden, comparing insect herbivory and leaf traits (chemical, nutritional, and physical) in serpentine and non-serpentine habitats within each region. We also analyzed soil properties—pH, texture, nutrient content, and heavy metal concentrations—to investigate their potential role in mediating soil type effects on herbivory. Our results showed that plants growing in serpentine soils experienced lower herbivory levels and exhibited higher concentrations of phenolic compounds, lower nutrient content, and thicker leaves, compared to their non-serpentine counterparts. Additionally, elevated pH and heavy metal levels in serpentine soils were associated with reduced herbivory, increased concentrations of phenolic compounds, and decreased specific leaf area (SLA) and nitrogen content. However, no indirect link between soil properties and herbivory via leaf traits was found, suggesting that bottom-up effects of soil on plants and herbivores operate independently. Collectively, these findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms linking plant–soil specialization and aboveground plant–herbivore interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70171","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144714699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The importance of fine-scale refugia and behavioral thermoregulation in the resilience of intertidal limpet populations","authors":"Spencer D. S. Virgin,&nbsp;Mark W. Denny,&nbsp;David R. Schiel","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70155","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Fine-scale spatial variability can play a key role in determining the distribution and abundance of organisms living in heterogenous habitats, where small-scale spatial variation in temperature can often exceed daily variation at any single location. However, many models of species distributions ignore such organism-scale abiotic variability and instead focus only on large-scale biogeographic patterns. Here, we investigated the importance of fine-scale temperature variability in population resilience of intertidal limpets, which are widely studied sentinels of climate change. To do this, we used a heat-budget model coupled with fine-scale reef-surface models to predict individual-scale limpet body temperatures. Initial modeling for 12 years (2009–2022) showed an extremely hot day during which the predicted body temperatures of an exposed limpet exceeded 39°C, which is lethal for all four of the limpet species studied (<i>Cellana</i> spp.) based on published thermal tolerances. Using this day as an exemplar thermal event, we then incorporated fine-scale (0.02 × 0.02 m resolution) topographic models of five New Zealand intertidal rocky reefs into the heat-budget model to quantify the effects of small-scale topographic variation. Predicted body temperatures of limpets during this exceptional day were highest on horizontal and equator-facing surfaces. Homing species (<i>Cellana flava</i> and <i>Cellana ornata</i>) tend to occupy these hot surfaces but have higher thermal tolerances and relatively high average estimates of survival (&gt;75%). Species with lower thermal tolerances (<i>Cellana radians</i> and <i>C. denticulata</i>) would have lower survival if scattered randomly across the reef (65 or 72%, respectively), but their behavioral tendency to move to poleward-facing surfaces is estimated to increase survival by 38%–46% (to 95 or 99%). Estimates of survival generally agreed with our long-term (six years) limpet population data in which no extreme declines were detected. When the heat-budget model was presented with a smoothed version of the topography, reducing variation caused by microhabitats, sitewide modeled survival of one species decreased from ~68% to 38%. This study demonstrates the importance of incorporating relevant individual-scale topographical, physiological, and behavioral information to accurately estimate resilience and long-term persistence of populations following extreme events.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70155","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144705637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Unraveling the drivers of forage quality variation in the Serengeti","authors":"Yuhong Li,&nbsp;Sanne Piek,&nbsp;Emilian P. Mayemba,&nbsp;Kelvin R. Shoo,&nbsp;Michiel P. Veldhuis,&nbsp;Han Olff","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70168","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Variation in forage quality is a key dimension of herbivore resource partitioning, but the main determinants of such variation across environmental gradients remain poorly understood. It is especially unclear how much variation in plant nutrient contents and stoichiometry is driven by plant species turnover versus by intraspecific variation across sites. We investigated variation in forage quality across nine sites along a key environmental gradient of increasing rainfall and decreasing soil fertility in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. We compared leaf elemental contents of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and sodium (Na) and three nutrient ratios (N:P, Ca:P, and K:Na) between sites, between species within the same site, and between sites within the same species. Site-average N, P, and K leaf contents decreased with increasing rainfall and decreasing soil fertility. The decline in N and K was primarily associated with species turnover, with their contents remaining relatively stable within species. The decline in P was associated with a combination of species turnover and intraspecific variation, with intraspecific P content decreasing strongly with increasing rainfall (decreasing soil fertility) across sites. Variation in site-average Ca, Mg, and Na leaf contents did not significantly correlate with rainfall or soil fertility and was mainly explained by species turnover between sites. Comparing leaf nutrient content and ratios to literature-derived nutritional requirements for large herbivores suggests that Na is severely limiting in this ecosystem. K seems sufficient everywhere, and the other elements are moderately limiting. If Serengeti herbivores rely on plants for their nutrient intake and are nutrient-limited, these results suggest herbivores with high N, Ca, or Mg requirements should optimize their diet by selecting particular species, relatively independent of sites. Herbivores with a high P requirement can instead best select particular sites, relatively independent of plant species. To obtain sufficient Na, herbivores can target particular species at particular sites. Thus, resource partitioning among Serengeti herbivores may occur at different levels for different elements. Interspecific variation in herbivore nutrient requirements would then drive resource partitioning both across sites (for P and Na) and between plant species (N, Ca, Mg, and Na).</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70168","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144688139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Threatened endemic arthropods and vertebrates partition their diets with non-native ants in an isolated island ecosystem","authors":"Maximillian P. T. G. Tercel,&nbsp;Jordan P. Cuff,&nbsp;William O. C. Symondson,&nbsp;Rosemary J. Moorhouse-Gann,&nbsp;Tom Rhys Bishop,&nbsp;Nik C. Cole,&nbsp;Eric Jolin,&nbsp;Bethan Govier,&nbsp;Johannes Chambon,&nbsp;Rouben Mootoocurpen,&nbsp;Martine Goder,&nbsp;Ian P. Vaughan","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70158","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The success of non-native species depends on their ability to find food, which may ultimately lead to competition with native species and contribute to biodiversity loss in invaded ecosystems. Understanding which food resources are consumed is therefore crucial for evaluating how non-native species mechanistically fit into native biological communities. Non-native species may be predators or competitors of native species or may be consumed by native species as a novel source of nutrition, for example, and this can occur between both closely and distantly related species. Studies examining competitive interactions between non-native species and distantly related native taxa are relatively rare, largely because it is difficult to compare their diets using traditional methods. However, dietary DNA metabarcoding overcomes these limitations by enabling the construction of highly detailed food webs. Here, we use dietary DNA metabarcoding between two generalist native consumers—a reptile (Telfair's skink) and a <i>Scolopendra</i> centipede (Serpent Island centipede)—and the hyperabundant non-native ant community to test which consumer groups prey upon one another and partition food resources. To determine how non-native ants fit into a native community, we calculated dietary composition, niche overlap, and dietary diversity of ants, centipedes, and skinks on Round Island, a small 2.19-km² oceanic island located 22.5 km north-east of Mauritius. We observed distinct partitioning of food resources among the three consumer groups—skinks, centipedes, and ants—and found that the level of predation between these groups varied. Skinks and centipedes frequently consumed non-native ants, which may represent an important nutritional resource for both native consumers. Dietary differences persisted through seasons despite large shifts in the availability of food and concomitant diet composition for all three consumers. We conclude that non-native ants fit into the biological community of Round Island as both prey for native consumers and extreme omnivorous generalists, but not necessarily at the expense of the native consumers because it is unlikely the consumers are competing for food resources. Our results suggest that abundant non-native generalists, which are highly invasive in much of their introduced range, can infiltrate native food webs without exerting strong competitive forces on other common native generalist species.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70158","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144681031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Marine and freshwater organism energy densities integrated across previous sources","authors":"Nathan T. Hermann,&nbsp;Mark J. Wuenschel,&nbsp;Nathan B. Furey","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70154","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;Energy is the currency of exchange within ecosystems which defines the strength and influence of interactions, particularly between predator and prey. The ability to estimate the productivity of an ecosystem is, therefore, dependent upon the estimation of consumer diet contents and their energetic quality. To estimate growth, reproduction, and, ultimately, survival of individuals, measures of prey quality for predators are essential both at the individual level and for scaling to ecosystem-wide fluxes and pools. Among measures of prey quality, energy density (in kilojoules per gram) is the most used in ecology. Considerable efforts have established estimates of energy densities for many aquatic taxa. However, a database of aquatic organism energetics constructed by integrating and organizing across multiple sources spawning marine and freshwater habitats across the globe is needed to add both depth (more samples to measure within-taxa variation) and breadth (more taxa). To generate a comprehensive energy density database of aquatic organisms, we performed a multifaceted review to find sources from the peer-reviewed and grey literature with a broad search on Web of Science, from citations of related literature, and a haphazard recommendation from experts. Estimates of energy density of whole organism live mass (in kilojoules per gram wet mass) were prioritized to better relate to diet and energetics studies. When energy density was only provided per gram dry mass, the dry mass and percentage water were used to calculate energy density per gram wet mass. Sub-organism (i.e., tissue specific) energy density estimates are included (e.g., muscle, liver, and egg) when only these were reported. A total of 3810 records are included from 134 sources, covering 2018 unique taxa, of which 1771 (87.76%) are identified at the species level. Species or taxa-specific energy densities ranged from 0.015 to 17.949 kJ/g wet mass (WM) with a mean ± SD = 4.509 ± 1.94 kJ/g WM and median = 4.225 kJ/g WM. Among those phyla with more than three species (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; phyla = 9), chordates (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; taxa = 1283) had the highest average energy density (mean ± SD; 4.92 ± 1.90; 0.162–17.9 kJ/g WM) and ctenophores (&lt;i&gt;n&lt;/i&gt; taxa = 4) had the lowest average (0.0988 ± 0.074; 0.03–0.205 kJ/g WM). Each record includes the organism taxonomy to the lowest resolution listed in the original source, energetic data available from the source including body composition and energy density data, number of replicates and methodology for measuring energetics information—primarily split between bomb calorimetry and proximate composition—as well as the source's author(s), year, and publication. Additional meta-data are included whenever possible based on details from the original source including the (1) environmental features: area, method, and timing of capture; (2) methodological features: storage method, storage duration, and tissue type measured; and (3) organismal features: mass, length, and","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70154","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144681030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resource quantity and quality co-limit consumer production in forest streams","authors":"Lee M. Demi,&nbsp;Phillip M. Bumpers,&nbsp;Wyatt F. Cross,&nbsp;Susan L. Eggert,&nbsp;John S. Kominoski,&nbsp;David W. P. Manning,&nbsp;Amy D. Rosemond,&nbsp;J. Bruce Wallace,&nbsp;Seth J. Wenger,&nbsp;Jonathan P. Benstead","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70163","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Ecological theory predicts that consumers should be co-limited by resource quantity and quality, given widespread consumer-resource nutritional imbalances. We used 25 estimates of annual community secondary production (ACSP) of stream macroinvertebrates to assess the relative roles of basal resource quantity (leaf litter standing stock [LLSS]) and quality (% nitrogen and % phosphorus of leaf litter) in modulating patterns of production in forest streams. We also tested the effects of hypothesized indirect drivers (stream discharge and inorganic nutrient concentrations) on basal resource quality and quantity and secondary production. In the top model for ACSP, LLSS, and %P together explained 59% of its variation, providing strong evidence of co-limitation by both resource quantity and quality. Mean annual stream discharge and stream water P concentration explained 75% and 43% of variation in LLSS and %P, respectively. Together, stream discharge and stream water P concentration explained 77% of the variation in ACSP, demonstrating a critical link between hypothesized indirect and direct (basal resources) drivers and ACSP. Our results are the first to demonstrate co-limitation of ACSP and highlight several mechanisms by which drivers of anthropogenic global change, such as altered precipitation (stream discharge) and eutrophication, influence the productivity of animal communities in stream ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70163","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144673146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Behavioral plasticity and the valence of indirect interactions","authors":"Ashkaan K. Fahimipour,&nbsp;Michael A. Gil,&nbsp;Andrew M. Hein","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70157","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecy.70157","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Behavioral plasticity in animals influences direct species interactions, but its effects can also spread unpredictably through ecological networks, creating indirect interactions that are difficult to anticipate. We use coarse-grained models to investigate how changes in species behavior shape indirect interactions and influence ecological network dynamics. As an illustrative example, we examine predators that feed on two types of prey, each of which temporarily reduces activity after evading an attack, thereby lowering vulnerability at the expense of growth. We demonstrate that this routine behavior shifts the indirect interaction between prey species from apparent competition to mutualism or parasitism. These shifts occur when predator capture efficiency drops below a critical threshold, causing frequent hunting failures. As a result, one prey species indirectly promotes the growth of the other by relaxing its density dependence through a cascade of network effects, paradoxically increasing predator biomass despite decreased hunting success. Empirical capture probabilities often fall within the range where such dynamics are predicted. We characterize such shifts in the qualitative nature of species interactions as changes in <i>interaction valence</i>, highlighting how routine animal behaviors reshape community structure through cascading changes within ecological networks.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144669755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spectral biology across scales in changing environments","authors":"Jeannine Cavender-Bares,&nbsp;Jose Eduardo Meireles,&nbsp;Jesús Pinto-Ledezma,&nbsp;Peter B. Reich,&nbsp;Meredith C. Schuman,&nbsp;Philip A. Townsend,&nbsp;Amy Trowbridge","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70078","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecy.70078","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding ecosystem processes on our rapidly changing planet requires integration across spatial, temporal, and biological scales. We propose that spectral biology, using tools that enable near- to far-range sensing by capturing the interaction of energy with matter across domains of the electromagnetic spectrum, will increasingly enable ecological insights across scales from cells to continents. Here, we focus on advances using spectroscopy in the visible to short-wave infrared, chlorophyll fluorescence-detecting systems, and optical laser scanning (light detection and ranging, LiDAR) to introduce the topic and special feature. Remote sensing using these tools, in conjunction with in situ measurements, can powerfully capture ecological and evolutionary processes in changing environments. These tools are amenable to capturing variation in life processes across biological scales that span physiological, evolutionary, and macroecological hierarchies. We point out key areas of spectral biology with high potential to advance understanding and monitoring of ecological processes across scales—particularly at large spatial extents—in the face of rapid global change. These include: the detection of plant and ecosystem composition, diversity, structure, and function as well as their relationships; detection of the causes and consequences of environmental stress, including disease and drought, for ecosystems; and detection of change through time in ecosystems over large spatial extents to discern variation in and mechanisms underlying their resistance, recovery, and resilience in the face of disturbance. We discuss opportunities for spectral biology to discover previously unseen variation and novel processes and to prepare the field of ecology for novel computational tools on the horizon with vast new capabilities for monitoring the ecology of our changing planet.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70078","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144669657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Afterlife effects of invasive wasp nests on ecosystem functioning","authors":"Sabrina Moreyra,&nbsp;Marina Gonzalez-Polo,&nbsp;M. Noelia Barrios-Garcia","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70140","DOIUrl":"10.1002/ecy.70140","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Legacy effects, defined as persistent ecological impacts after a species extirpation or cessation of activity, can significantly influence ecosystem structure and function. While extensively studied in plant invasions, legacy effects of invasive animals may differ and remain largely unexplored. We assessed the afterlife effects of subterranean nests built by invasive <i>Vespula</i> social wasps on ecosystem properties in Patagonia, Argentina. We relocated wasp nests ~16 months after the colonies' death and collected soil samples from nest sites and adjacent control areas. In the laboratory, we analyzed soil nutrients, microbial biomass, and enzyme activity. Additionally, we conducted a greenhouse experiment to measure the nests' effect on plant growth. Our results show significant effects on soil properties, including a 1.5-fold increase in total C, 2-fold increase in total N, and 54-fold increase in P compared to control soils. Furthermore, we found a 1.5-fold increase in microbial biomass and a 1.75-fold increase in enzyme activity. These changes enhanced plant performance, with seedlings grown in nest soil showing a 13-fold increase in biomass. Overall, our results show that invasive wasps create lasting legacy effects persisting more than a year after the colony's death, influencing plant growth and potentially increasing spatial heterogeneity within the invaded ecosystem.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70140","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144669691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Density-dependent dispersal and habitat use in size-structured populations: An experiment in wild Trinidadian guppies","authors":"Sebastiano De Bona,&nbsp;Karendeep Sidhu,&nbsp;Hanna M. Enroth,&nbsp;Andrés López-Sepulcre","doi":"10.1002/ecy.70151","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.70151","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Individual responses to density perturbations often depend on individual size or stage, and can include demographic changes (survival, reproduction, growth) and spatial responses (dispersal, habitat shift). While these responses are well characterized, their interaction is seldom considered. Size-specific effects of density can result from size- or stage-specific spatial responses mediated by dominance interactions: subordinate individuals might suffer disproportionately from overcrowding conditions if displaced from high-quality habitats by dominant individuals. To investigate this, we performed an experiment in wild guppies where we observed demographic and spatial responses to density manipulations and tested for an interaction between them. We found recruitment, growth, and female survival to be decreased at high density. Dispersal was costly, causing a reduction of body condition and growth. Shifts in microhabitat use with density were size-dependent: at increased density, large individuals were more likely to remain in a microhabitat, while small individuals were likely to move and suffer reduced growth. At decreased density, growth improved when remaining in the same microhabitat (for large individuals) or moving to a different one (for small individuals). Our results show that regulation under density perturbation can occur through asymmetric interactions that disproportionately affect smaller individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":11484,"journal":{"name":"Ecology","volume":"106 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.4,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecy.70151","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144647098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}