Abstract
Interspecific coevolutionary interactions can result in rapid biotic adaptation, but most studies have focused only on species pairs. Here, we (co)evolved five microbial species in replicate polycultures and monocultures and quantified local adaptation. Specifically, growth rate assays were used to determine adaptations of each species' populations to (1) the presence of the other four species in general and (2) sympatric vs. allopatric communities. We found that species did not show an increase in net biotic adaptation:ancestral, polyculture- and monoculture-evolved populations did not have significantly different growth rates within communities. However, 4/5 species' growth rates were significantly lower within the community they evolved in relative to an allopatric community. 'Local maladaptation' suggests that species evolved increased competitive interactions to sympatric species' populations. This increased competition did not affect community stability or productivity. Our results suggest that (co)evolution within communities can increase competitive interactions that are specific to (co)evolved community members.
Highlights
The growth rate of polyculture-evolved clones did not differ from their respective ancestors, and only two monoculture-evolved populations showed evidence of abiotic adaptation
We investigated patterns of biotic local adaptation of microbial species evolved in multispecies competitive communities for approximately 100 generations
We found that four out of five species typically showed lower growth rates in their own versus foreign communities, suggesting that populations on average were locally maladapted
Summary
The primary aim of this study was to determine whether or not there is a tendency for populations to become locally adapted following evolution in multi-species communities: i.e. if they are better adapted to the community they evolved in compared to novel communities
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