The effect of intraspecific variation and heritability on community pattern and robustness

Abstract

Intraspecific trait variation is widespread in nature, yet its effects on community dynamics are not well understood. Here we explore the consequences of intraspecific trait variation for coexistence in two- and multispecies competitive communities. For two species, the likelihood of coexistence is in general reduced by intraspecific variation, except when the species have almost equal trait means but different trait variances, such that one is a generalist and the other a specialist consumer. In multispecies communities, the only strong effect of non-heritable intraspecific variation is to reduce expected species richness. However, when intraspecific variation is heritable, allowing for the possibility of trait evolution, communities are much more resilient against environmental disturbance and exhibit far more predictable trait patterns. Our results are robust to varying model parameters and relaxing model assumptions.

Keywords: Coevolution; Lotka-Volterra dynamics; coexistence; community structure; competition; eco-evolutionary dynamics; quantitative genetics.