PCI Ecology

Title

The return of the trophic chain: fundamental vs realized interactions in a simple arthropod food webuse asterix (*) to get italics

Authors

Inmaculada Torres-Campos, Sara Magalhães, Jordi Moya-Laraño, Marta MontserratPlease use the format "First name initials family name" as in "Marie S. Curie, Niels H. D. Bohr, Albert Einstein, John R. R. Tolkien, Donna T. Strickland"

Year

2018

Picture

Abstract

<p>The mathematical theory describing small assemblages of interacting species (community modules or motifs) has proved to be essential in understanding the emergent properties of ecological communities. These models use differential equations to study pairwise interactions between species. However, as community modules become more complex, it is not certain that all potential interactions will be effectively realized. Here, we use community modules to experimentally explore whether the number of trophic links among species scales with community complexity (i.e., by adding species known to feed on each other from pair-wise trials). To investigate this question, we used a simple mite community present in avocado orchards (*Persea americana*), composed of two predators (*Euseius stipulatus* and *Neoseiulus californicus*), one herbivore as shared prey (*Oligonychus perseae*), and pollen of *Carpobrotus edulis* as an alternative food resource. These configurations enabled the potential for (intraguild) predation and (apparent) competition to be expressed. Using a series of controls, we assessed whether the presence of one species affected the survival of another, or its conversion of food into offspring). We found that increasing the number of potential interactions did not result in more complex realized community modules. Instead, all communities were reduced to one or two linear trophic chains. Our results show that trophic links assumed to occur when species are assembled in pairs do not necessarily occur when other components of the community are present. Consequently, food-web structure may be unrealistic in theoretical community modules that are parameterized based on pair-wise interactions observed when alternative prey is absent. This further suggests the need for empirical research to work in concert with theoretical approaches to develop more realistic and predictive food-web models.</p>

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Keywords

Community modules, pairwise interactions, realised food webs, realised trophic links

Methods that require specific expertise (optional)

NonePlease indicate the methods that may require specialised expertise during the peer review process (use a comma to separate various required expertises).

Thematic fields

Community ecology, Experimental ecology

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Submission date

2018-05-16 19:34:10

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Francis John Burdon

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