The dimensionality of individual niche variation in coexisting species

• Grant number: 17/20069-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 06, 2017
• End date: December 19, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Márcio Silva Araújo
• Grantee: Raul Costa Pereira
• Supervisor: Travis Ingram
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Otago, New Zealand
• Associated to the scholarship: 14/20924-5 - Revisiting the diversity paradox: does intraspecific ecological variation facilitate species coexistence?, BP.DR

Abstract

The multidimensional concept of niche has permeated most of theories in ecology. However, theory and empirical studies on individual niche specialization still rely on one-dimensional approaches to understand the causes and consequences of intraspecific ecological diversity in natural communities. In this proposal we aim to conciliate the classic multidimensional niche concept with the emergent field of individual variation by applying a novel analytical framework to quantify individual specialization and interspecific niche overlap interactively in multiple ecological axes. We will combine individual-level multivariate empirical data from tropical food webs with statistical modeling to test how a competition gradient affects the degree of niche variation between-individuals (within species) and between-species. We expect that our results will provide new insights on classic and still unsolved questions in ecology, such as how niche variation in multiple ecological dimensions (both within and between species) may affect community structure and species coexistence.

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)

COSTA-PEREIRA, RAUL; RUDOLF, VOLKER H. W.; SOUZA, FRANCO L.; ARAUJO, MARCIO S.. Drivers of individual niche variation in coexisting species. Journal of Animal Ecology, v. 87, n. 5, p. 1452-1464, SEP 2018. (14/20924-5, 16/09038-9, 10/15567-8, 17/20069-6)

COSTA-PEREIRA, RAUL; TOSCANO, BENJAMIN; SOUZA, FRANCO L.; INGRAM, TRAVIS; ARAUJO, MARCIO S.. Individual niche trajectories drive fitness variation. FUNCTIONAL ECOLOGY, v. 33, n. 9, JULY 2019. (14/20924-5, 10/15567-8, 16/09038-9, 17/20069-6)

COSTA-PEREIRA, RAUL; ARAUJO, MARCIO S.; SOUZA, FRANCO L.; INGRAM, TRAVIS. Competition and resource breadth shape niche variation and overlap in multiple trophic dimensions. PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, v. 286, n. 1902, MAY 1 2019. (14/20924-5, 10/15567-8, 17/20069-6)