Evolution of life-history traits collapses competitive coexistence.
Trade-offs between competitive ability and the other life-history traits are considered to be a major mechanism of competitive coexistence. Many theoretical studies have demonstrated the robustness of such a coexistence mechanism ecologically; however, it is unknown whether the coexistence is robust evolutionarily. Here, we report that evolution of life-history traits not directly related to competition, such as longevity, and predator avoidance, easily collapses competitive coexistence in several competition systems: spatially structured, and predator-mediated two-species competition systems. In addition, we found that a superior competitor can be excluded by an inferior one by common mechanisms among the models. Our results suggest that ecological competitive coexistence due to a life-history trait trade-off balance may not be balanced on an evolutionary timescale, that is, it may be evolutionarily fragile.
Mougi
Akihiko
A
Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate 041-8611, Japan. mougi@fish.hokudai.ac.jp
Nishimura
Kinya
K
D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005075:Biological Evolution; D003163:Competitive Behavior; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D008136:Longevity; D008954:Models, Biological; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012641:Selection, Genetic