Cryptic population dynamics: rapid evolution masks trophic interactions.

ABSTRACT: Trophic relationships, such as those between predator and prey or between pathogen and host, are key interactions linking species in ecological food webs. The structure of these links and their strengths have major consequences for the dynamics and stability of food webs. The existence and strength of particular trophic links has often been assessed using observational data on changes in species abundance through time. Here we show that very strong links can be completely missed by these kinds of analyses when changes in population abundance are accompanied by contemporaneous rapid evolution in the prey or host species. Experimental observations, in rotifer-alga and phage-bacteria chemostats, show that the predator or pathogen can exhibit large-amplitude cycles while the abundance of the p

SUBMITTER: Yoshida T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1964773 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature