Niche partitioning between close relatives suggests trade‐offs between adaptation to local environments and competition. Issue 3 (24th January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Peterson, Megan L.; Rice, Kevin J.; Sexton, Jason P.
• Is Part Of: Ecology and evolution. Volume 3:Issue 3(2013:Mar.)
• Page Start: 512
• Page End: 522
• Publication Date: 2013-01-24
• Subjects: Ecology -- Periodicals; Evolution -- Periodicals; 577.05
• DOI: 10.1002/ece3.462
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2045-7758

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en" id="ece3462-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Niche partitioning among close relatives may reflect trade‐offs underlying species divergence and coexistence (e.g., between stress tolerance and competitive ability). We quantified the effects of habitat and congeneric species interactions on fitness for two closely related herbaceous plant species, <italic>Mimulus guttatus</italic> and <italic>Mimulus laciniatus</italic>, in three common habitat types within their sympatric range. Drought stress strongly reduced survival of <italic>M. guttatus</italic> in fast‐drying seeps occupied by <italic>M. laciniatus</italic>, suggesting that divergent habitat adaptation maintains this niche boundary. However, neither seedling performance nor congeneric competition explained the absence of <italic>M. laciniatus</italic> from shady streams where <italic>M. guttatus</italic> thrives. <italic>M. laciniatus</italic> may be excluded from this habitat by competition with other species in the community or mature <italic>M. guttatus</italic>. Species performance and competitive ability were similar in sympatric meadows where plant community stature and the growing season length are intermediate between seeps and streams. Stochastic effects (e.g., dispersal among habitats or temporal variation) may contribute to coexistence in this habitat. Habitat adaptation, species interactions, and stochastic mechanisms influence sympatric distributions for these recently diverged species.</p> </abstract>