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Species differences in phenology shape coexistence Blackford, Christopher; Germain, Rachel; Gilbert, Benjamin
Description
<b>Abstract</b><br/>
Ecological theory produces opposing predictions about whether differences in the timing of life history transitions, or ‘phenology’, promote or limit coexistence. Phenological separation is predicted to create temporal niche differences, increasing coexistence, yet phenological separation could also competitively favour one species, increasing fitness differences and hindering coexistence. We experimentally manipulated relative germination timing, a critical phenological event, of two annual grass species, <i>Vulpia microstachys</i> and <i>V. octoflora</i>, to test these contrasting predictions. We parameterized a competition model to estimate within-season niche differences, fitness differences, and coexistence, and to estimate coexistence when year-to-year fluctuations of germination timing occur. Increasing germination separation caused parallel changes in niche and fitness differences, with the net effect of weakening within-year coexistence. Both species experienced a competitive advantage by germinating earlier and a four-day head start allowed the generally inferior competitor to exclude the otherwise superior competitor. The overall consequence of germination separation was to limit coexistence within a given year, although year-to-year variation in relative timing of germination was sufficient to support long-term coexistence. Our results clarify how phenological differences structure competitive interactions and highlight the need to quantify year-to-year variation in these differences to better understand species coexistence.</p>
Item Metadata
Title |
Species differences in phenology shape coexistence
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Creator | |
Date Issued |
2021-05-19
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Description |
<b>Abstract</b><br/>
Ecological theory produces opposing predictions about whether differences in the timing of life history transitions, or ‘phenology’, promote or limit coexistence. Phenological separation is predicted to create temporal niche differences, increasing coexistence, yet phenological separation could also competitively favour one species, increasing fitness differences and hindering coexistence. We experimentally manipulated relative germination timing, a critical phenological event, of two annual grass species, <i>Vulpia microstachys</i> and <i>V. octoflora</i>, to test these contrasting predictions. We parameterized a competition model to estimate within-season niche differences, fitness differences, and coexistence, and to estimate coexistence when year-to-year fluctuations of germination timing occur. Increasing germination separation caused parallel changes in niche and fitness differences, with the net effect of weakening within-year coexistence. Both species experienced a competitive advantage by germinating earlier and a four-day head start allowed the generally inferior competitor to exclude the otherwise superior competitor. The overall consequence of germination separation was to limit coexistence within a given year, although year-to-year variation in relative timing of germination was sufficient to support long-term coexistence. Our results clarify how phenological differences structure competitive interactions and highlight the need to quantify year-to-year variation in these differences to better understand species coexistence.</p> |
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Notes |
Dryad version number: 1</p> Version status: submitted</p> Dryad curation status: Published</p> Sharing link: https://datadryad.org/stash/share/owQlWBvvuUd1uW4chrN_vTZcIrGGFpxY2MmsYPr1OZ8</p> Storage size: 535574</p> Visibility: public</p> |
Date Available |
2019-12-19
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Provider |
University of British Columbia Library
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License |
This dataset is made available under a Creative Commons CC0 license with the following additional/modified terms and conditions: CC0 Waiver
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0397619
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URI | |
Publisher DOI | |
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Aggregated Source Repository |
Dataverse
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Licence
This dataset is made available under a Creative Commons CC0 license with the following additional/modified terms and conditions: CC0 Waiver