Nutrient flows between ecosystems can destabilize simple food chains.
Dispersal of organisms has large effects on the dynamics and stability of populations and communities. However, current metacommunity theory largely ignores how the flows of limiting nutrients across ecosystems can influence communities. We studied a meta-ecosystem model where two autotroph-consumer communities are spatially coupled through the diffusion of the limiting nutrient. We analyzed regional and local stability, as well as spatial and temporal synchrony to elucidate the impacts of nutrient recycling and diffusion on trophic dynamics. We show that nutrient diffusion is capable of inducing asynchronous local destabilization of biotic compartments through a diffusion-induced spatiotemporal bifurcation. Nutrient recycling interacts with nutrient diffusion and influences the susceptibility of the meta-ecosystem to diffusion-induced instabilities. This interaction between nutrient recycling and transport is further shown to depend on ecosystem enrichment. It more generally emphasizes the importance of meta-ecosystem theory for predicting species persistence and distribution in managed ecosystems.
Marleau
Justin N
JN
Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 ave Docteur Penfield, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3A 1B1. justin.marleau@mail.mcgill.ca
Guichard
Frédéric
F
Mallard
François
F
Loreau
Michel
M
D000465:Algorithms; D052818:Autotrophic Processes / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018504:Ecological Systems, Closed; D017753:Ecosystem; D005502:Food; D020387:Food Chain; D007700:Kinetics; D008954:Models, Biological