Interactions between assembly order and temperature can alter both short- and long-term community composition.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Microbiology

Background:

• Community structure is influenced by species arrival order (assembly history) and environmental factors like temperature.
• The interaction between assembly history and environmental conditions, particularly temperature, is not well understood.
• Global climate change necessitates understanding how temperature affects ecological dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally investigate the combined effects of assembly history and temperature on community structure.
• To determine if temperature and assembly order interact to influence community composition.
• To explore the long-term consequences of these interactions on species abundance.

Main Methods:

• Utilized small-scale protist microcosm communities.
• Factorially manipulated temperature and species arrival order.
• Monitored community structure and species abundance over time.

Main Results:

• Temperature was the primary driver of long-term species abundance.
• Assembly order had lasting effects that influenced the temperature-abundance relationship.
• Early colonization advantages were generally short-lived.

Conclusions:

• Environmental conditions, especially temperature, shape community composition.
• Temperature can interact with stochastic assembly processes to alter future community structure, particularly with significant temperature changes.
• These findings have implications for understanding the dynamics of rare and invasive species.