Unraveling commonness and rarity through modern coexistence theory and priority effect: coupling micro and macro scale approaches

• Grant number: 16/14611-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: December 01, 2016
• End date: January 15, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Tadeu de Siqueira Barros
• Grantee: Victor Satoru Saito
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Natural communities are composed by few common species and a large number of rare ones. This is one of few 'laws' in ecology and its causes have being studied for decades. Usually, explanations for commonness and rarity invoke some sort of environmental response, and thus do not explain changes in the identity of common and rare species among similar sites. Here, we will propose and test a new explanation for patterns of species abundance in the special case when the identity of common and rare species changes within similar environments. Our ideas are grounded on modern coexistence theory and priority effects. We predict that changes in species commonness and rarity can be explained by priority effect among species with similar competitive abilities and high niche overlap. In this case, early arriving species can preempt the majority of late arriving species niche, leaving only small niche opportunities for population growth. Thus, changes in the identity of common and rare species can be manipulated by changing arrival order during community assembling. We will resort recently developed methods for experimentally estimate niche and fitness differences and priority effects. This will be the first time stable coexistence will estimate for animal species with strong theoretical rigor. For that we will use microcosm experiments using zooplankton species. These organisms are adequate given their fast life cycle, easy rearing and high diversity. Additionally we will couple our experimental results in novel observational analyses of large scale datasets. Coupling experiments with observations we expect to shed new light on what can determine commonness and rarity in nature. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MARTINS, CLARISSA ARAUJO; SILVEIRA, MAURICIO; SAITO, VICTOR S.; COSTA-PEREIRA, RAUL; MOREIRA SUGAI, LARISSA SAYURI; PAYS, OLIVIER; ROQUE, FABIO DE OLIVEIRA. Phylogenetic structure of communities between temperate and tropical regions: Exploring patterns through literature datasets. ACTA OECOLOGICA-INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, v. 91, p. 30-34, AUG 2018. (15/25316-6, 14/24532-4, 13/20540-0, 16/14611-0, 14/20924-5)