Phenotypic outcomes of predator–prey coevolution are predicted by landscape variation in climate and community composition

Abstract

Abstract Landscape patterns of phenotypic coevolution are determined by variation in the outcome of predator–prey interactions. These outcomes may depend not only on the functional phenotypes that mediate species interactions, but also on aspects of the environment that enable encounters between coevolutionary partners. Exploring the relationship between coevolutionary traits and the environment requires extensive sampling across the range of the interaction to determine the relationship between local ecological variation and coevolution. In this study, we synthesized >30 years of data on predator–prey interactions between toxic newts (Taricha granulosa) and their snake predators (Thamnophis sirtalis) to explore the environmental predictors of arms race escalation. We found that geographic variation in phenotypes at the interface of coevolution was best predicted by a combination of community and climatic variation. Coevolutionary phenotypes were greatest in environments with climate favourable for newt–snake overlap. We found prey toxicity was elevated in regions with more predator species, and predator resistance was higher in regions with more prey species. Our results suggest specific environmental conditions reinforce the process of coevolution, signifying the phenotypic outcomes of coevolutionary arms races are sensitive to local ecological contexts that vary across the landscape. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.