Title: Life-cycle complexity drives the assembly of large ecological communities.

Speaker: Marco Saltini (Wageningen University & Research)

Abstract:

It is beyond any doubt that ecology plays a crucial role in shaping the adaptation and the emergence of new species. Specifically, interactions with different resources and predators have been recognized as key drivers of ecological diversification. However, life-cycle complexity, i.e., the use of different resources or predation by different predators at different stages of the ontogenetic development, which are ubiquitous features of most eukaryotes, have been traditionally overlooked by standard eco-evolutionary theory.

Here, we investigate the potential for community assembly of species with complex life cycles through two distinct modes of assembly: gradual evolution with evolutionary branching, and immigration. Our analytical and computational results show that complex life cycles do not promote community assembly through evolutionary branching. Instead, they facilitate the displacement of phenotypic traits associated with resource consumption. However, communities assembled through immigration exhibit higher species richness when the assembly process involves species with complex life cycles compared to those with simple life cycles, as immigrants can occupy isolated peaks of the dynamic fitness landscape that are not accessible via gradual evolution.

This event will take place in room L0.06