Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities

Abstract Body size affects key biological processes across the tree of life, with particular importance for food web dynamics and stability. Traits influencing movement capabilities depend strongly on body size, yet the effects of allometrically-structured dispersal on food web stability are less we...

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Autores principales:	Kurt E. Anderson, Ashkaan K. Fahimipour
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/48fef20076cd44428486279a0ff96f2a
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:48fef20076cd44428486279a0ff96f2a
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:48fef20076cd44428486279a0ff96f2a2021-12-02T16:38:24ZBody size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities10.1038/s41598-021-96629-52045-2322https://doaj.org/article/48fef20076cd44428486279a0ff96f2a2021-08-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96629-5https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Body size affects key biological processes across the tree of life, with particular importance for food web dynamics and stability. Traits influencing movement capabilities depend strongly on body size, yet the effects of allometrically-structured dispersal on food web stability are less well understood than other demographic processes. Here we study the stability properties of spatially-arranged model food webs in which larger bodied species occupy higher trophic positions, while species’ body sizes also determine the rates at which they traverse spatial networks of heterogeneous habitat patches. Our analysis shows an apparent stabilizing effect of positive dispersal rate scaling with body size compared to negative scaling relationships or uniform dispersal. However, as the global coupling strength among patches increases, the benefits of positive body size-dispersal scaling disappear. A permutational analysis shows that breaking allometric dispersal hierarchies while preserving dispersal rate distributions rarely alters qualitative aspects of metacommunity stability. Taken together, these results suggest that the oft-predicted stabilizing effects of large mobile predators may, for some dimensions of ecological stability, be attributed to increased patch coupling per se, and not necessarily coupling by top trophic levels in particular.Kurt E. AndersonAshkaan K. FahimipourNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Kurt E. Anderson Ashkaan K. Fahimipour Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
description	Abstract Body size affects key biological processes across the tree of life, with particular importance for food web dynamics and stability. Traits influencing movement capabilities depend strongly on body size, yet the effects of allometrically-structured dispersal on food web stability are less well understood than other demographic processes. Here we study the stability properties of spatially-arranged model food webs in which larger bodied species occupy higher trophic positions, while species’ body sizes also determine the rates at which they traverse spatial networks of heterogeneous habitat patches. Our analysis shows an apparent stabilizing effect of positive dispersal rate scaling with body size compared to negative scaling relationships or uniform dispersal. However, as the global coupling strength among patches increases, the benefits of positive body size-dispersal scaling disappear. A permutational analysis shows that breaking allometric dispersal hierarchies while preserving dispersal rate distributions rarely alters qualitative aspects of metacommunity stability. Taken together, these results suggest that the oft-predicted stabilizing effects of large mobile predators may, for some dimensions of ecological stability, be attributed to increased patch coupling per se, and not necessarily coupling by top trophic levels in particular.
format	article
author	Kurt E. Anderson Ashkaan K. Fahimipour
author_facet	Kurt E. Anderson Ashkaan K. Fahimipour
author_sort	Kurt E. Anderson
title	Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
title_short	Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
title_full	Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
title_fullStr	Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
title_full_unstemmed	Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
title_sort	body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/48fef20076cd44428486279a0ff96f2a
work_keys_str_mv	AT kurteanderson bodysizedependentdispersalinfluencesstabilityinheterogeneousmetacommunities AT ashkaankfahimipour bodysizedependentdispersalinfluencesstabilityinheterogeneousmetacommunities
_version_	1718383571022905344

Body size dependent dispersal influences stability in heterogeneous metacommunities

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