Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Ecological Monographs

Volume

88

Issue

3

Publisher

Ecological Society of America

Publication Date

4-15-2018

First Page

353

Last Page

371

Abstract

Evolution can alter the ecological dynamics of communities, but the effects depend on the magnitudes of standing genetic variation in the evolving species. Using an eco‐coevolutionary predator–prey model, I identify how the magnitudes of prey and predator standing genetic variation determine when ecological, evolutionary, and eco‐evolutionary feedbacks influence system stability and the phase lags in predator–prey cycles. Here, feedbacks are defined by subsystems, i.e., the dynamics of a subset of the components of the whole system when the other components are held fixed; ecological (evolutionary) feedbacks involve the direct and indirect effects between population densities (species traits) and eco‐evolutionary feedbacks involve the direct and indirect effects between population densities and traits. When genetic variation is low in both species, ecological feedbacks and eco‐evolutionary feedbacks involving either the predator or the prey trait have the strongest effects on system stability, when genetic variation is high in one species, evolutionary and eco‐evolutionary feedbacks involving that species’ trait have the strongest effects, and, when genetic variation is high in both species, evolutionary feedbacks involving one or both traits and eco‐coevolutionary feedbacks involving both traits have the strongest effects. I present the biological conditions under which each feedback can destabilize the whole system and cause predator–prey cycles. Predator–prey cycles can also arise when all feedbacks are stabilizing. This counterintuitive outcome occurs when feedbacks involving many variables are more stabilizing than feedbacks involving fewer variables or vice versa. I also identify how the indirect effects of prey and predator density on the predator dynamics (mediated by evolutionary responses in one or both species) alter the phase lags in predator–prey cycles. I present conditions under which the trait‐mediated indirect effects introduce delays that cause the lag between prey and predator peaks to increase. This work explains and unifies empirical and theoretical studies on how predator–prey coevolution alters the dynamics of predator–prey systems and how those effects depend on the magnitudes of prey and predator standing genetic variation.

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