Community trait variation drives selection on species diversity through feedback with predator density

Abstract

Identifying the processes underlying community assembly and dynamics remains a central goal in ecology. Although much research has been devoted to analyzing how environments affect species diversity, fewer studies have resolved the link between the fundamental process of ecological selection and species diversity. It has been suggested that identifying ecological selection by estimating changes in community-weighted variance (CWV) and mean (CWM) of functional traits may help to identify more general rules of community assembly. Here, we asked whether and how selection by predation and competition affect species diversity, and how this is determined by the initial CWV and CWM for traits governing species interactions, as in our case: competitiveness and defense against a predator. We tracked experimental 5-species phytoplankton communities in the presence and absence of a rotifer predator over time. We manipulated the initial community composition so that communities shared at least 3 of the 5 species, but differed in CWV and CWM for defense against predation. We found that species diversity was highest with higher initial trait distributions and that temporal changes in diversity correlated with trait selection. The initial distributions determined the form of selection over time, with directional selection for defense and competitiveness followed by reduced selection and an increase in niche availability when the initial trait distribution was low or high. For intermediate initial trait distributions, we observed directional selection in only one trait followed by stabilizing selection. Differences and changes in selection for defense, competitiveness and species diversity, correlated with the changes in predator density over time. This suggests that the initial trait distribution determined species diversity through a feedback loop with changes in selection on traits and predator density. Overall, our study shows that identifying ecological selection on functional traits can provide a mechanistic understanding of community assembly.