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Evolutionary emergence of size-structured food webs
Nicolas Loeuille1, Michel Loreau
1Laboratoire d'Ecologie, Unité Mixte de Recherche 7625, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 46 Rue d'Ulm, F-75230 Paris Cedex 5, France. nicolas.loeuille@normalesup.org
Summary
Complex food webs can evolve from a single ancestor using simple ecological and evolutionary rules. This study shows adaptation, particularly in body size, drives the emergence of realistic food web structures.
Area of Science:
- Ecological theory
- Evolutionary biology
- Systems ecology
Background:
- Explaining terrestrial and aquatic food web structures is a major challenge in ecological theory.
- Existing models often rely on emergent food web properties (e.g., diversity, connectance) rather than lower-level processes like adaptation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate how complex food webs can emerge from a single ancestor through evolution.
- To investigate the role of organism-scale adaptation in shaping food web dynamics.
Main Methods:
- Developed an ecological model based on simple evolutionary and ecological rules.
- Incorporated adaptation acting on organism body size as a key parameter.
- Analyzed emergent food web properties based on organism-scale parameters.
Main Results:
- Complex and realistic food webs can emerge from a single ancestor.
- Organism-level adaptation, specifically body size, influences food web structure.
- Variations in consumption niche width and competition intensity yield diverse food web structures.
Conclusions:
- Simple ecological and evolutionary rules, coupled with adaptation, can generate complex food webs.
- Body size is a critical factor linking organism-level traits to food web properties.
- The model successfully predicts emergent food web structures observed in nature.