Speciation in a MacArthur model predicts growth, stability, and adaptation in ecosystem dynamics

• Published in: Theoretical ecology Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 209 - 224
• Main Authors: Bellavere, Elena, Hamster, Christian H. S., Dijksman, Joshua A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01-09-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adaptation; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Dynamic stability; Dynamics; Ecosystem dynamics; Ecosystems; Equilibrium; Evolution; Introduced species; Life Sciences; Plant Sciences; Population dynamics; Population number; Resource consumption; Speciation; Stochasticity; Theoretical Ecology/Statistics; Zoology; Evolution; Population dynamics; Coexistence; Environmental stochasticity
• ISSN: 1874-1738; 1874-1746
• DOI: 10.1007/s12080-023-00564-2

Ecosystem dynamics is often considered driven by a coupling of species’ resource consumption and its population size dynamics. Such resource-population dynamics is captured by MacArthur-type models. One biologically relevant feature that would also need to be captured by such models is the introduction of new and different species. Speciation introduces a stochastic component in the otherwise deterministic MacArthur theory. We describe here how speciation can be implemented to yield a model that is consistent with current theory on equilibrium resource-consumer models, but also displays readily observable rank diversity metric changes. The model also reproduces a priority effect. Adding speciation to a MacArthur-style model provides an attractively simple extension to explore the rich dynamics in evolving ecosystems.