Effects of partitioning allochthonous and autochthonous resources on food web stability

Abstract

The flux of energetic and nutrient resources across habitat boundaries can exert major impacts on the dynamics of the recipient food web. Competition for these resources can be a key factor structuring many ecological communities. Competition theory suggests that competing species should exhibit some partitioning to minimize competitive interactions. Species should partition both in situ (autochthonous) resources and (allochthonous) resources that enter the food web from outside sources. Allochthonous resources are important sources of energy and nutrients in many low productivity systems and can significantly influence community structure. The focus of this paper is on: (i) the influence of resource partitioning on food web stability, but concurrently we examine the compound effects of; (ii) the trophic level(s) that has access to allochthonous resources; (iii) the amount of allochthonous resource input; and (iv) the strength of the consumer–resource interactions. We start with a three trophic level food chain model (resource–consumer–predator) and separate the higher two trophic levels into two trophospecies. In the model, allochthonous resources are either one type available to both consumers and predators or two distinct types, one for consumers and one for predators. The feeding preferences of the consumer and predator trophospecies were varied so that they could either be generalists or specialists on allochthonous and/or autochthonous resources. The degree of specialization influenced system persistence by altering the structure and, therefore, the indirect effects of the food web. With regard to the trophic level(s) that has access to allochthonous resources, we found that a single allochthonous resource available to both consumers and predators is more unstable than two allochthonous resources. The results demonstrate that species populating food webs that experience low to moderate allochthonous resources are more persistent. The results also support the notion that strong links destabilize food web dynamics, but that weak to moderate strength links stabilize food web dynamics. These results are consistent with the idea that the particular structure, resource availability, and relative strength of links of food webs (such as degree of specialization) can influence the stability of communities. Given that allochthonous resources are important resources in many ecosystems, we argue that the influence of such resources on species’ and community persistence needs to be examined more thoroughly to provide a clearer understanding of food web dynamics.