Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Ecology Letters
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons
Publication Date
10-11-2018
First Page
1
Last Page
20
Abstract
Understanding long‐term coexistence of numerous competing species is a longstanding challenge in ecology. Progress requires determining which processes and species differences are most important for coexistence when multiple processes operate and species differ in many ways. Modern coexistence theory (MCT), formalized by Chesson, holds out the promise of doing that, but empirical applications remain scarce. We argue that MCT's mathematical complexity and subtlety have obscured the simplicity and power of its underlying ideas and hindered applications. We present a general computational approach that extends our previous solution for the storage effect to all of standard MCT's spatial and temporal coexistence mechanisms, and also process‐defined mechanisms amenable to direct study such as resource partitioning, indirect competition, and life history trade‐offs. The main components are a method to partition population growth rates into contributions from different mechanisms and their interactions, and numerical calculations in which some mechanisms are removed and others retained. We illustrate how our approach handles features that have not been analyzed in the standard framework through several case studies: competing diatom species under fluctuating temperature, plant–soil feedbacks in grasslands, facilitation in a beach grass community, and niche differences with independent effects on recruitment, survival and growth in sagebrush steppe.
Recommended Citation
Ellner, S. P., Snyder, R. E., Adler, P. B. and Hooker, G. (2018), An expanded modern coexistence theory for empirical applications. Ecol Lett. . doi:10.1111/ele.13159
Comments
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ellner, S. P., Snyder, R. E., Adler, P. B. and Hooker, G. (2018), An expanded modern coexistence theory for empirical applications. Ecol Lett. . doi:10.1111/ele.13159, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13159. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.