Effects of habitat destruction on coevolving metacommunities. (12th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gawecka, Klementyna A.; Pedraza, Fernando; Bascompte, Jordi
• Is Part Of: Ecology letters. Volume 25:Number 12(2022)
• Page Start: 2597
• Page End: 2610
• Publication Date: 2022-10-12
• Subjects: antagonism -- eco‐evolutionary feedback -- ecological networks -- mutualism -- spatially explicit models; Ecology -- Periodicals; 577
• DOI: 10.1111/ele.14118
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1461-023X

Abstract

Abstract: Habitat destruction is a growing threat to biodiversity and ecosystem services. The ecological consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation involve reductions in species abundance and even the extinction of species and their interactions. However, we do not yet understand how habitat loss alters the coevolutionary trajectories of the remaining species or how coevolution, in turn, affects their response to habitat loss. To investigate this, we develop a spatially explicit model which couples metacommunity and coevolutionary dynamics. We show that, by changing the size, composition and structure of local networks, habitat destruction increases the diversity of coevolutionary trajectories of mutualists across the landscape. Conversely, in antagonistic communities, some species increase while others reduce their spatial trait heterogeneity. Furthermore, we show that while coevolution dampens the negative effects of habitat destruction in mutualistic networks, its effects on the persistence of antagonistic communities tend to be smaller and less predictable. Abstract : How does habitat destruction affect community's ecological and coevolutionary responses, and the feedback between them? Using a coevolutionary metacommunity model, we show that by making the local communities smaller and changing their composition, habitat loss tends to increase the spatial diversity of coevolutionary trajectories. However, by coevolving, species can readapt. While this ability dampens the negative effects of habitat destruction in mutualistic networks, its effects on the persistence of antagonistic communities are smaller and less predictable.