10.5061/DRYAD.SF7M0CG4C
Atwater, Daniel
0000-0002-7166-3819
Earlham College
Callaway, Ragan M.
University of Montana
Xiao, Sa
Lanzhou University
Competition as a demolition derby: Why tolerating competitors is more
important than suppressing them
Dryad
dataset
2020
Competitive effect
competitive response
competitive hierarchy
2020-10-16T00:00:00Z
2020-10-16T00:00:00Z
en
117038321 bytes
2
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Tolerance and suppression are distinct components of competition among
plants, and recognizing how they affect competitive outcomes is important
for understanding the mechanisms and consequences of competition. We used
simulations informed by experimental trials to ask whether tolerance or
suppression of competitors was more important for the survival of native
plants experiencing competition with an exotic invasive species. When
competition was pairwise, tolerance and suppression contributed equally to
competitive rank in simulations. However, when multiple native genotypes
competed together against an invader, the ability to tolerate competition
was up to 50 times more important than the ability to suppress the
invader. In two-competitor communities the chief advantage of suppressing
competitors was a global decrease in their abundance, but this advantage
did not exist in communities of multiple competitors—which is more
representative of natural conditions —because decreased competitor
abundance benefited all plants regardless of their competitive ability. We
suggest that this concept is analogous to a ‘demolition derby,’ an
automotive contest where participants attempt to have the last functional
vehicle on the playing field. Because strong suppressors share the
benefits of eliminating competitors with other remaining competitors, we
propose that tolerance of competitors is more beneficial than suppression
when competition occurs in a multiplayer scenario—in a demolition derby
and in nature. This finding has implications for our understanding of how
competition influences plant species coexistence, plant community
structure, and invasion outcomes.
Please see readme.