The dimensionality of individual niche variation

Autor(es)

Ingram, Travis ^[1] ; Costa-Pereira, Raul ^{[2, 3]} ; Araujo, Marcio S. ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Otago, Dept Zool, 340 Great King St, Dunedin 9016 - New Zealand

^[2] Univ Estadual Paulista UNESP, Inst Biociencias, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Biodiversidade, Av 24-A, 1515, BR-15807 Rio Claro - Brazil

^[3] Univ Estadual Paulista UNESP, Inst Biociencias, Av 24-A, 1515, BR-15807 Rio Claro - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: ECOLOGY; v. 99, n. 3, p. 536-549, MAR 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 9

Resumo

The inherently multidimensional nature of the niche has not yet been integrated into the investigation of individual niche specialization within populations. We propose a framework for modeling the between- and within-individual components of the population niche as a set of variance-covariance matrices, which can be visualized with ellipses or ellipsoids. These niche components can be inferred using multiple response mixed models, and can incorporate diverse types of data, including diet composition, stable isotopes, spatial location, and other continuous measures of niche dimensions. We outline how considering both individual and population niches in multiple dimensions may enhance our understanding of key concepts in ecology and evolution. Considering multiple dimensions as well as the within-individual component of variation can lead to more meaningful measures of niche overlap between species. The impact of a population on its food web or ecosystem can depend on the degree of individual variation (via Jensen's inequality), and we suggest how the dimensionality of individual specialization could amplify this effect. Finally, we draw from concepts in quantitative genetics and the study of animal personalities to propose new hypotheses about the ecological and evolutionary basis of niche shifts in multiple dimensions. We illustrate key ideas using empirical data from sea otters, wetland frogs, and threespine stickleback, and discuss outstanding questions about the consequences of multidimensional niche variation. Setting variation among individuals in an explicitly multivariate framework has the potential to transform our understanding of a range of ecological and evolutionary processes. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 14/20924-5 - Revisitando o paradoxo da diversidade: a variação ecológica intraespecífica facilita a coexistência de espécies?
• Beneficiário: Raul Costa Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Doutorado
• Processo FAPESP: 16/09038-9 - Reconstruindo a ecologia de comunidades a partir de indivíduos: consequências da diversidade ecológica intraespecífica na coexistência de espécies e montagem de comunidades
• Beneficiário: Raul Costa Pereira
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Doutorado