Adaptive evolution of foraging-related trait in intraguild predation system

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Theoretical Ecology

Background:

• Intraguild predation involves a top predator consuming both prey and basal resources.
• The foraging effort of the intermediate species (intraguild prey) is a key evolvable trait.
• This foraging effort is inversely related to vulnerability to the top predator.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the evolutionary dynamics of intraguild predation systems.
• To investigate how evolvable foraging strategies influence community stability and diversity.
• To understand the interplay between ecological and evolutionary forces in food webs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized adaptive dynamics approximation for mutation-limited evolution.
• Applied critical function analysis to study evolutionary singular strategies.
• Modeled a tri-trophic food chain with an intraguild predator.

Main Results:

• Evolutionary dynamics depend on the concavity of the trade-off function between foraging and vulnerability.
• Three distinct evolutionary scenarios identified: repeller, evolutionary branching point, and continuously stable strategy.
• Adaptive foraging strategies can lead to evolutionary branching in the intraguild prey population.

Conclusions:

• Adaptive foraging behavior significantly impacts community stability.
• Increased prey diversity and system persistence can result from evolutionary foraging adaptations.
• This model offers insights into indirect ecological effects from an evolutionary viewpoint.