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Evolutionary disarmament in interspecific competition.

E Kisdi1, S A Geritz

  • 1Department of Mathematics, University of Turku, FIN-20014 Turku, Finland and Department of Genetics, Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány I/c, 1117 Budapest, Hungary.

Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|December 26, 2001
PubMed
Summary

Interspecific competition can lead to evolutionary disarmament, where species coevolve towards smaller sizes, unlike the evolutionary arms races seen in single-species competition. This disarmament mechanism may explain the rarity of exaggerated traits between species.

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Area of Science:

  • Evolutionary biology
  • Ecology
  • Theoretical biology

Background:

  • Competitive asymmetry, where one contestant has a size or weaponry advantage, drives evolutionary arms races within species.
  • While asymmetry is common between species, it rarely leads to exaggerated traits, a phenomenon not fully explained by current evolutionary models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the conditions under which interspecific competition leads to evolutionary disarmament rather than arms races.
  • To explore the role of ecological factors and population dynamics in shaping evolutionary trajectories between competing species.

Main Methods:

  • Developed and analyzed an ecologically explicit model of competition for a shared resource.
  • Utilized a simple Lotka-Volterra competition model to corroborate findings.

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  • Examined the interplay between evolutionary dynamics and population density.

    • Main Results:

    • Demonstrated that two species with differing sizes can coevolve towards smaller sizes under shared ecological conditions.
    • Showed that evolutionary disarmament occurs across a wide range of model parameters.
    • Identified the interaction between evolutionary dynamics and population density as a key factor.

    Conclusions:

    • Evolutionary disarmament, leading to reduced trait exaggeration between species, is a plausible outcome of interspecific competition.
    • This mechanism offers a potential explanation for the observed lack of exaggerated traits in many interspecific competitive scenarios.
    • The findings suggest that disarmament may be a widespread evolutionary phenomenon.