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Invasion sequence affects predator–prey dynamics in a multi-species interaction

Nature volume 405, pages 448–450 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Ecologists seek to understand the rules that govern the assembly, coexistence and persistence of communities of interacting species. There is, however, a variety of sequences in which a multi-species community can be assembled—unlike more familiar one- and two-species systems. Ecological systems can exhibit contrasting dynamics depending on initial conditions1, but studies have been focused on simple communities initiated at different densities, not on multi-species communities constructed in different sequences. Investigations of permanence and convergence in ecological communities2,3,4 have been concerned with the flux of whole species (presence or absence)4 but have not addressed the central issues concerning the dynamics exhibited by individual species in particular interactions. Here we examine data for replicated three-species systems and demonstrate that the dynamic trajectories of both a predator and its prey within the system are determined by the sequence in which it is constructed, and that for one construction-sequence alternative dynamic patterns are possible.

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Figure 1: Representative culture of P. interpunctella (thin line) and granulovirus (GV) (dotted line) to which V. canescens (bold line) was added.
Figure 2: Representative culture of P. interpunctella and V. canescens to which GV was added.
Figure 3: ACFs of the host and parasitoid for the first 14 weeks (approximately two host generations).
Figure 4
Figure 5: Similarity dendrogram following hierarchical cluster analysis of HVP and HPV cultures.
Figure 6: Patterns exhibited by the three-species age-structured model.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the NERC for funding this work, P. Rohani and O. Bjørnstad for helpful comments and constructive criticism of earlier versions of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population and Evolutionary Biology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Nicholson Building, The University of Liverpool, PO Box 147, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    Steven M. Sait, David J. Thompson & Michael Begon

  2. Department of Biology and NERC Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College at Silwood Park, Ascot , SL5 7PY, UK

    Wei-Chung Liu & H. Charles J. Godfray

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  1. Steven M. Sait
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  2. Wei-Chung Liu
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  4. H. Charles J. Godfray
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  5. Michael Begon
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Correspondence to Steven M. Sait.

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Sait, S., Liu, WC., Thompson, D. et al. Invasion sequence affects predator–prey dynamics in a multi-species interaction. Nature 405, 448–450 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35013045

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