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Developmental Change in Predators Drives Different Community Configurations.

Benjamin J Toscano, Volker H W Rudolf

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    PubMed
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    Ecological regime shifts can be caused by alternative stable states. This study shows that ontogenetic development, specifically food-dependent maturation, can create these states, impacting ecosystem stability.

    Keywords:
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    Area of Science:

    • Ecology
    • Theoretical Ecology
    • Ecosystem Dynamics

    Background:

    • Ecological models predict alternative stable states, warning of irreversible regime shifts.
    • Ecosystem collapses have validated concerns about bistability in coupled human-environment systems.
    • Mechanisms maintaining alternative stable states are often complex and system-specific.

    Purpose of the Study:

    • To identify general mechanisms that can produce alternative stable states under realistic conditions.
    • To investigate the role of ontogenetic development in ecosystem bistability.
    • To provide empirical evidence for developmental change supporting alternative stable states.

    Main Methods:

    • Integrating theoretical model predictions with long-term zooplankton community experiments.
    • Analyzing how food-dependent maturation influences community configurations.
    • Comparing experimental outcomes with general model predictions.

    Main Results:

    • Ontogenetic development, specifically food-dependent maturation, enables a single community to adopt different configurations in a constant environment.
    • One configuration shows predator-prey coexistence driven by predator regulation.
    • Another configuration demonstrates prey outcompeting predators due to maturation-limiting competition.

    Conclusions:

    • Developmental change, a fundamental biological property, can support ecosystem bistability.
    • This provides empirical support for general mechanisms underlying alternative stable states.
    • Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for managing coupled human-environment systems and preventing ecosystem collapses.