Sexual conflict promotes species coexistence through negative frequency dependence

bioRxiv

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Authors

Affiliations

Miguel Gómez‐Llano

University of Arkansas

Sofie Nilén

Lund University

Iain R. Moodie

University of Stirling

Erik I. Svensson

Lund University

Published

March 9, 2021

Abstract

A major challenge in community ecology is to understand the mechanisms promoting stable local coexistence. A necessary feature of local coexistence is that species show negative frequency dependence, rescuing rare species from exclusion. However, most studies have focused on ecological differences driving negative frequency dependence, ignoring non-ecological mechanisms such as reproductive interactions. Here, we combined field studies with behavioural and mesocosm experiments to investigate how reproductive interactions within and between species promote coexistence. Our results indicate that the intensity of male mating harassment and sexual conflict increases as species become more common, reducing female productivity and leading to negative frequency dependence. Moreover, field surveys reveal that negative frequency dependence operates in natural settings, consistent with our experimental results. These results suggest that sexual conflict can promote local coexistence and highlights the importance of studying reproductive interactions together with ecological differences to better understand the mechanisms promoting species coexistence.

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Citation

BibTeX citation:

@article{gómez‐llano2021,
  author = {Gómez‐Llano, Miguel and Nilén, Sofie and Moodie, Iain R. and
    Svensson, Erik I.},
  title = {Sexual Conflict Promotes Species Coexistence Through Negative
    Frequency Dependence},
  journal = {bioRxiv},
  date = {2021-03-09},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.08.434376v1},
  doi = {10.1101/2021.03.08.434376},
  langid = {en},
  abstract = {A major challenge in community ecology is to understand
    the mechanisms promoting stable local coexistence. A necessary
    feature of local coexistence is that species show negative frequency
    dependence, rescuing rare species from exclusion. However, most
    studies have focused on ecological differences driving negative
    frequency dependence, ignoring non-ecological mechanisms such as
    reproductive interactions. Here, we combined field studies with
    behavioural and mesocosm experiments to investigate how reproductive
    interactions within and between species promote coexistence. Our
    results indicate that the intensity of male mating harassment and
    sexual conflict increases as species become more common, reducing
    female productivity and leading to negative frequency dependence.
    Moreover, field surveys reveal that negative frequency dependence
    operates in natural settings, consistent with our experimental
    results. These results suggest that sexual conflict can promote
    local coexistence and highlights the importance of studying
    reproductive interactions together with ecological differences to
    better understand the mechanisms promoting species coexistence.}
}

For attribution, please cite this work as:

Gómez‐Llano, M., S. Nilén, I. R. Moodie, and E. I. Svensson. 2021. Sexual conflict promotes species coexistence through negative frequency dependence. bioRxiv.