Abstract
Competition and resource partitioning can have profound implications for individuals, populations and communities, and thus food webs, ecosystems and the management of biota and environments. In many species, the impacts of competition and resource partitioning are believed to be most severe during early life, but our understanding of the mechanisms and implications is incomplete. This study revealed short-term variations in both the occurrence and direction of competition during the early life of roach Rutilus rutilus and common bream Abramis brama, two of the most widespread and abundant fish species in Europe. There was also evidence of resource partitioning when small taxa dominated the zooplankton, but not when larger taxa were more abundant. In spite of the differences in foraging ecology, there were no significant differences in growth or nutritional condition in allopatry and sympatry. Similar to the concept of condition-specific competition, when competitive abilities vary along environmental gradients, the impacts of interspecific interactions on foraging ecology, growth and condition are dynamic and likely vary according to temporal fluctuations in prey availability. This is important because short-term incidences of competition could have cascading effects on food webs, even when no impacts on growth rates or condition are detected.
Highlights
Competition and resource partitioning can have profound implications for individuals, populations and communities, and food webs, ecosystems and the management of biota and environments
In spite of the differences in foraging ecology, there were no significant differences in growth or nutritional condition in allopatry and sympatry
This study examined exploitative competition and resource partitioning during the early life of roach Rutilus rutilus (L.) and common bream Abramis brama (L.), two of the most widespread and abundant fishes in Europe (Kottelat & Freyhof, 2007)
Summary
Competition and resource partitioning can have profound implications for individuals, populations and communities, and food webs, ecosystems and the management of biota and environments. Similar to the concept of condition-specific competition, when competitive abilities vary along environmental gradients, the impacts of interspecific interactions on foraging ecology, growth and condition are dynamic and likely vary according to temporal fluctuations in prey availability This is important because short-term incidences of competition could have cascading effects on food webs, even when no impacts on growth rates or condition are detected. Hydrobiologia (2020) 847:2211–2224 partitioning in young fishes, especially the consequences of temporal variations in resource availability, and our understanding of the mechanisms and implications is incomplete This is important because early ontogeny is invariably the critical period in the life cycle of fishes, with competition-induced changes in individual growth rates, condition or survival having direct implications for adult cohort size and population and community dynamics (Beaugrand et al, 2003; Fletcher et al, 2019). As fish are key predators in the majority of aquatic environments, competition and resource partitioning can have tangible impacts on energy pathways, foodweb dynamics and ecosystem functioning (Miller & Rudolf, 2011; Nakazawa, 2015)
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