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Predators regulate prey species sorting and spatial distribution in microbial landscapes.

George Livingston1, Kayoko Fukumori1, Diogo B Provete2

  • 1Center for Environmental Biology and Ecosystem Studies, National Institute for Environmental Studies, 16-2, Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506, Japan.

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Predators significantly influence prey community structure in metacommunities, overriding habitat patch effects. Their distribution, not just habitat, dictates prey composition and spatial patterns, challenging previous assumptions.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Metacommunity Dynamics
  • Community Ecology

Background:

  • Interspecific competition among prey is more studied than predation's role in metacommunity assembly.
  • Previous research indicates habitat patch type and spatial patterning are influenced by disturbances.
  • Microcosms are valuable for studying multi-trophic interactions and disturbance effects on metacommunities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how predators affect prey sorting and spatial patterns in experimental landscapes.
  • To determine if predators enhance or disrupt community assembly in multi-trophic metacommunities.
  • To test the impact of disturbance regimes on predator-prey dynamics within a metacommunity.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized protist microcosm landscapes with one predator and two competing prey species.
  • Manipulated two patch resource types and localized dispersal across three disturbance regimes (none, low, high).
  • Employed variation partitioning and spatial clustering analysis to interpret community composition and spatial structure.

Main Results:

  • Predator distribution, rather than habitat patch type, was the primary predictor of prey community composition.
  • Predators acted as strong local drivers by preferential consumption and indirectly amplified resource effects on prey.
  • Predators enhanced spatial signal in prey communities due to their limited dispersal, impacting metacommunity structure.

Conclusions:

  • Predators play a crucial role in prey species sorting and spatial patterning within metacommunities.
  • Predator influence can be mistaken for stochastic effects like dispersal limitation or demographic drift.
  • Explicitly including predators as explanatory factors in analyses is vital for accurate metacommunity research.