Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 270, Issue 1533, Pages 2591-2598Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2003.2532
Keywords
food web; community structure; coexistence; trade-off; competition; predation
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Competition and predation are fundamental interactions structuring food webs. However, rather than always following these neat theoretical categories, mixed interactions are ubiquitous in nature. Of particular importance are omnivorous species, such as intra-guild predators that can both compete with and predate on their prey. Here, we examine trade-offs between competitive and predatory capacities by analysing the entire continuum of food web configurations existing between purely predator-prey and purely competitive interactions of two consumers subsisting on a single resource. Our results show that the range of conditions allowing for coexistence of the consumers is maximized at intermediately strong trade-offs. Even though coexistence under weak trade-offs and under very strong trade-offs is also possible, it occurs under much more restrictive conditions. We explain these findings by an intricate interplay between energy acquisition and interaction strength.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available