Publications [#231427] of William G. Wilson
search PubMed.Papers Published
- Wilson, WG; Nisbet, RM, Cooperation and competition along smooth environmental gradients,
Ecology, vol. 78 no. 7
(January, 1997),
pp. 2004-2017, WILEY [doi] .
(last updated on 2024/12/31)Abstract:
This paper explores the ecological consequences of competition and cooperation, and the resultant abrupt species zonation that could occur along smooth environmental stress gradients. We present one- and two-species models of sessile organisms incorporating competition for space and two forms of cooperation: habitat amelioration and positive recruitment. In these models, habitat amelioration reduces an organism's mortality rate when it is surrounded by other organisms ('safety-in-numbers'), and positive intraspecific recruitment enables juveniles to use the shelter of established individuals as settlement (or germination) sites. A single-species model incorporating both forms of cooperation may exhibit sharp discontinuities in population density along an environmental gradient. In a two-species model the same mechanisms may lead to sharp boundaries in species composition if, as empirical studies suggest, a trade-off exists between colonization and cooperation abilities (e.g., strong cooperators are poor colonizers). Positive interspecific recruitment obscures the interspecific boundaries.