Ecological speciation in a generalist consumer expands the trophic niche of a dominant predator

Ecological speciation – whereby an ancestral founder species diversifies to fill vacant niches – is a phenomenon characteristic of newly formed ecosystems. Despite such ubiquity, ecosystem-level effects of such divergence remain poorly understood. Here, we compared the trophic niche of European whit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2017-08, Vol.7 (1), p.8765-10, Article 8765
Main Authors: Thomas, Stephen M., Harrod, Chris, Hayden, Brian, Malinen, Tommi, Kahilainen, Kimmo K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/2445
631/158/857
Animals
Biodiversity
Ecology
Ecosystem
Ecosystem assessment
Ecosystems
Fish
Food Chain
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lakes
multidisciplinary
Niches
Predators
Salmo trutta
Salmonidae
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Speciation
Trophic relationships
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Summary:Ecological speciation – whereby an ancestral founder species diversifies to fill vacant niches – is a phenomenon characteristic of newly formed ecosystems. Despite such ubiquity, ecosystem-level effects of such divergence remain poorly understood. Here, we compared the trophic niche of European whitefish ( Coregonus lavaretus ) and their predators in a series of contrasting subarctic lakes where this species had either diversified into four ecomorphologically distinct morphs or instead formed monomorphic populations. We found that the trophic niche of whitefish was almost three times larger in the polymorphic than in the monomorphic lakes, due to an increase in intraspecific specialisation. This trophic niche expansion was mirrored in brown trout ( Salmo trutta ), a major predator of whitefish. This represents amongst the first evidence for ecological speciation directly altering the trophic niche of a predator. We suggest such mechanisms may be a common and important – though presently overlooked – factor regulating trophic interactions in diverse ecosystems globally.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-017-08263-9