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The evolution of niche overlap and competitive differences

Nature Ecology & Evolution volume 5, pages 330–337 (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

Competition can result in evolutionary changes to coexistence between competitors but there are no theoretical models that predict how the components of coexistence change during this eco-evolutionary process. Here we study the evolution of the coexistence components, niche overlap and competitive differences, in a two-species eco-evolutionary model based on consumer–resource interactions and quantitative genetic inheritance. Species evolve along a one-dimensional trait axis that allows for changes in both niche position and species intrinsic growth rates. There are three main results. First, the breadth of the environment has a strong effect on the dynamics, with broader environments leading to reduced niche overlap and enhanced coexistence. Second, coexistence often involves a reduction in niche overlap while competitive differences stay relatively constant or vice versa; in general changes in competitive differences maintain coexistence only when niche overlap remains constant. Large simultaneous changes in niche overlap and competitive difference often result in one of the species being excluded. Third, provided that the species evolve to a state where they coexist, the final niche overlap and competitive difference values are independent of the system’s initial state, although they do depend on the model’s parameters. The model suggests that evolution is often a destructive force for coexistence due to evolutionary changes in competitive differences, a finding that expands the paradox of diversity maintenance.

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Fig. 1: Example of the dynamics generated by the model.
Fig. 2: Evolutionary changes to niche overlap and competitive differences.
Fig. 3: Coexistence heat map of the total change in niche overlap and competitive differences.
Fig. 4: Coexistence at eco-evolutionary equilibria, represented in the space spanned by niche overlap ρ and log competitive differences κ1/κ2.
Fig. 5: Examples of how niche overlap and competitive differences may change as a result of selection on the trait values of two competitors.

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Data availability

Code (including Shiny App) and data to replicate our analyses are available at: https://github.com/aipastore/CoexistenceTheory.

Code availability

Code (including Shiny App) to replicate our analyses are available at: https://github.com/aipastore/CoexistenceTheory.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Allesina, R. Bertram, B. Inouye, S. Steppan and A. Winn for providing insightful comments on this work. This work was made possible in part by funding awarded to M.M.M. (DP170100837) by the Australian Research Council. G.B. acknowledges funding by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet), grant VR 2017-05245.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Abigail I. Pastore, György Barabás.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia

    Abigail I. Pastore, Malyon D. Bimler & Margaret M. Mayfield

  2. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA

    Abigail I. Pastore & Thomas E. Miller

  3. Division of Theoretical Biology, Department IFM, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

    György Barabás

  4. MTA-ELTE Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary

    György Barabás

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Contributions

A.I.P. and G.B. designed the study, carried out analyses and drafted the manuscript. M.D.B. carried out analyses and helped draft the manuscript. M.M.M. contributed to the interpretation of analyses and critically revised the manuscript. T.E.M. contributed to the design of the study and critically revised the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Abigail I. Pastore.

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Peer review information Nature Ecology & Evolution thanks J. Sakarchi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Peer reviewer reports are available.

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Pastore, A.I., Barabás, G., Bimler, M.D. et al. The evolution of niche overlap and competitive differences. Nat Ecol Evol 5, 330–337 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01383-y

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