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Related Concept Videos

Predator-Prey Interactions02:39

Predator-Prey Interactions

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Predators consume prey for energy. Predators that acquire prey and prey that avoid predation both increase their chances of survival and reproduction (i.e., fitness). Routine predator-prey interactions elicit mutual adaptations that improve predator offenses, such as claws, teeth, and speed, as well as prey defenses, including crypsis, aposematism, and mimicry. Thus, predator-prey interactions resemble an evolutionary arms race.
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Types of Selection01:46

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Natural selection influences the frequencies of particular alleles and phenotypes within populations in several different ways. Primarily, natural selection can be directional, stabilizing, or disruptive. Directional selection favors one extreme trait and shifts the population towards that phenotype while selecting against individuals displaying alternate traits. Stabilizing selection favors an intermediate trait with a narrow range of variation. Deviation from the optimal phenotype towards an...
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Competition02:34

Competition

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When organisms require the same limited resources within an environment, they may have to compete for them. Competition is a net-negative interaction. Even if two competing individuals or populations do not interact directly, the overall fitness of both competitors is lowered as a result of not having full access to the limited resource.
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Inclusive Fitness00:57

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Most altruistic behavior—in which one animal helps another at a cost to themselves—occurs between relatives. Scientists think these altruistic behaviors evolved because they increase the inclusive fitness of the animal providing help.
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Frequency-dependent Selection01:21

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When the fitness of a trait is influenced by how common it is (i.e., its frequency) relative to different traits within a population, this is referred to as frequency-dependent selection. Frequency-dependent selection may occur between species or within a single species. This type of selection can either be positive—with more common phenotypes having higher fitness—or negative, with rarer phenotypes conferring increased fitness.
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Hybrid Zones

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Hybrid zones are narrow regions where two closely related species interact, mate, and produce hybrids. Relative to either parent species, hybrids may possess distinct phenotypic or genetic differences that impact their survival and reproductive success. The genetic variances introduced by hybridization influence species diversity and speciation processes within the hybrid zone.
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Daily Transfers, Archiving Populations, and Measuring Fitness in the Long-Term Evolution Experiment with Escherichia coli
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Predator coexistence through emergent fitness equalization.

Ellen van Velzen1

  • 1Department of Ecology and Ecosystem Modeling, Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Maulbeerallee 2, Potsdam, 14469, Germany.

Ecology
|February 1, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Predator coexistence is possible without niche differentiation. Prey adaptation to predator densities equalizes predator fitness, enabling stable coexistence and driving biodiversity.

Keywords:
coexistencecompetitioncompetitive exclusiondefenseeco-evolutionary feedbacksemergent facilitationpredatorprey dynamics

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Theoretical Ecology

Background:

  • The competitive exclusion principle states that two predators cannot coexist on a single prey without self-limitation.
  • Niche differentiation has been considered essential for predator coexistence, requiring predators to have identical R* values, which is deemed improbable.
  • Predator R* values are influenced by prey defensive traits, which can evolve in response to predator densities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role of prey adaptation in predator coexistence.
  • To demonstrate how predator-prey dynamics and prey evolution can enable stable coexistence without niche differentiation.

Main Methods:

  • Theoretical modeling of predator-prey interactions with evolving prey defenses.
  • Analysis of eco-evolutionary feedback loops between predator densities and prey defensive traits.
  • Examination of fitness equalization as a mechanism for coexistence.

Main Results:

  • Prey adaptation to predator densities can lead to stable predator coexistence without ecological niche differentiation.
  • Fitness equalization, where prey adaptation results in equal R* values for both predators, drives coexistence.
  • This mechanism is general, applicable to rapid and inducible defense evolution, and independent of specific model details.

Conclusions:

  • Eco-evolutionary dynamics are crucial for understanding ecological questions like predator coexistence.
  • Prey adaptation can cascade through communities, promoting diversity at higher trophic levels.
  • This study offers a novel perspective on coexistence theory by incorporating adaptive prey evolution.