A structural approach for understanding multispecies coexistence

Although observations of species‐rich communities have long served as a primary motivation for research on the coexistence of competitors, the majority of our empirical and theoretical understanding comes from two‐species systems. How much of the coexistence observed in species‐rich communities resu...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rohr, Rudolf P. (Author), Bascompte, Jordi (Author), Godoy, Oscar (Author), Kraft, Nathan J. B. (Author), Levine, Jonathan M. (Author), Saavedra Sanchez, Serguei (Contributor)
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Ecological Society of America, 2018-11-15T15:10:15Z.
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Online Access:Get fulltext
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042 |a dc 
100 1 0 |a Rohr, Rudolf P.  |e author 
100 1 0 |a Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Saavedra Sanchez, Serguei  |e contributor 
100 1 0 |a Saavedra Sanchez, Serguei  |e contributor 
700 1 0 |a Bascompte, Jordi  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Godoy, Oscar  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Kraft, Nathan J. B.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Levine, Jonathan M.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Saavedra Sanchez, Serguei  |e author 
245 0 0 |a A structural approach for understanding multispecies coexistence 
260 |b Ecological Society of America,   |c 2018-11-15T15:10:15Z. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/119023 
520 |a Although observations of species‐rich communities have long served as a primary motivation for research on the coexistence of competitors, the majority of our empirical and theoretical understanding comes from two‐species systems. How much of the coexistence observed in species‐rich communities results from indirect effects among competitors that only emerge in diverse systems remains poorly understood. Resolving this issue requires simple, scalable, and intuitive metrics for quantifying the conditions for coexistence in multispecies systems, and how these conditions differ from those expected based solely on pairwise interactions. To achieve these aims, we develop a structural approach for studying the set of parameter values compatible with n‐species coexistence given the geometric constraints imposed by the matrix of competition coefficients. We derive novel mathematical metrics analogous to stabilizing niche differences and fitness differences that measure the range of conditions compatible with multispecies coexistence, incorporating the effects of indirect interactions emerging in diverse systems. We show how our measures can be used to quantify the extent to which the conditions for coexistence in multispecies systems differ from those that allow pairwise coexistence, and apply the method to a field system of annual plants. We conclude by presenting new challenges and empirical opportunities emerging from our structural metrics of multispecies coexistence. Keywords: community dynamics; feasibility; invasion criterion; multiple competitors; niche and fitness differences; pairwise effects; structural stability 
520 |a National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant 1644641) 
546 |a en_US 
655 7 |a Article 
773 |t Ecological Monographs