Ecological community integration increases with added trophic complexity
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Abstract
The existence of functional biological organization at the level of multi-species communities has long been contested in ecology and evolutionary biology. I found that adding a trophic level to simulated ecological communities enhanced their ability to compete at the community level, increasing the likelihood of one community forcing all or most species in a second community to extinction. Community-level identity emerged within systems of interacting ecological networks, while competitive ability at the community level was enhanced by intense within-community selection pressure. These results suggest a reassessment of the nature of biological organization above the level of species, indicating that the drive toward biological integration, so prominent throughout the history of life, might extend to multi-species communities.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | Ecological community integration increases with added trophic complexity |
| Series title | Ecological Complexity |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ecocom.2007.10.004 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Year Published | 2008 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Contributing office(s) | Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center |
| Description | 6 p. |
| First page | 140 |
| Last page | 145 |
| Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |