How dependent are species‐pair interaction strengths on other species in the food web?
2004
Peacor, Scott D. | Werner, Earl E.
In ecological theory species interaction strengths are typically described by constants or functions that depend on the densities of the two interacting species. However, if species' traits (phenotypes) are plastic, then modifications in these traits (induced by the presence of another species) could affect interaction strengths of the focal species with a number of other species in the system. The magnitudes of such higher‐order effects on interaction strengths have not been reported and are not straightforward to measure. We present a methodology to quantify changes in consumer–resource interaction coefficients (a metric of interaction strength) due to effects of predators on consumer (i.e., the prey of the predator) phenotype (e.g., nonlethal or trait‐mediated effects). Application of this method to studies in diverse systems indicates that predators can strongly reduce consumer– resource interaction coefficients, often in the range of 20–80%. We use analytic and simulation models to show that effects on interaction coefficients of this magnitude can lead to trait‐mediated effects that contribute more strongly than density‐mediated effects to the net effects of predators on consumers and their resources, and even qualitatively change model predictions. Our results strengthen previous claims that trait‐mediated effects strongly influence species interactions and suggest that recent calls to quantify interaction strengths must be broadened to include examination of the variation in interaction strengths due to their dependence on densities of other species (most notably predators) in food webs.
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