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Coexistence in a Variable Environment
Abstract
A community which would not reach a stable equilibrium may nevertheless persist if there is temporal variation and nonlinear dynamics. A procedure is introduced for taking time averages of the rates of change. Since the average of a nonlinear function is not the function of the average, higher terms such as the variances of resources or covariances among species and environmental factors enter into the coexistence conditions. These measures behave as if they were resources. Therefore the number of consumer species cannot exceed the number of resources plus distinct nonlinearities. The nonlinearities arise from predator saturation, learning, group hunting, multiple nutritional requirements, or seasonally variable feeding rates. It is shown that there is no long term correlation between the abundance of a species and its rates of increase.
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Periodic or chaotic variation of densities in time generated by the dynamics itself can help maintain diversity, with fluctuations acting as regulating factors.
“Periodic or chaotic variation of densities in time generated by the dynamics itself (intrinsic fluctuations) can help to maintain diversity, the fluctuations themselves acting as regulating factors, see e.g., [18,19,20].”
From Ecology and Evolution in the RNA World Dynamics and Stability of Prebiotic Replicator Systems (2017) · cites this paper as [19]
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Mechanisms of Maintenance of Species Diversity
Chesson, P. (2000) · Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.31.1.343 · Cited by 6,645
The Causes and Consequences of Compensatory Dynamics in Ecological Communities
Gonzalez, A., & Loreau, M. (2009) · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics · doi:10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.39.110707.173349 · Cited by 537
Ecosystem multifunctionality in metacommunities
Thompson, P. L., & Gonzalez, A. (2016) · Ecology · doi:10.1002/ecy.1502 · Cited by 64
Ecology and Evolution in the RNA World Dynamics and Stability of Prebiotic Replicator Systems
Szilágyi, A., Zachar, I., Scheuring, I., Kun, Á., Könnyű, B., & Czárán, T. (2017) · Life · doi:10.3390/life7040048 · Cited by 44
Metadata
- Authors
- Levins, R.
- Corresponding author
- Levins, Richard
- Venue
- The American Naturalist
- Publisher
- University of Chicago Press
- Published
- 1979-12
- Volume
- 114
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 765-783
- ISSN
- 0003-0147 (ISSN-L)
- 1537-5323
- OpenAlex
- W2009207052
- Cited by
- 465
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 7 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 7.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The American Naturalist (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Applied Mathematics › Mathematical and Theoretical Epidemiology and Ecology Models
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Nature and Landscape Conservation › Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Animal Ecology and Behavior Studies
- Keywords
- species coexistence, temporal environmental variation, nonlinear dynamics, consumer-resource model, group hunting
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