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Interactions among competing nematode species affect population growth rates

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Abstract

Investigations of the interplay of organisms in an ecological community are a prerequisite to understanding the processes that shape the structures of those communities. Among several types of interactions, interest in the positive interactions of species that compete for the same resource has grown, as they may provide a mechanism enabling coexistence. In the laboratory experiment described herein, the effects of interspecific interaction on the population growth of two bacterial-feeding nematode species, Panagrolaimus cf. thienemanni and Poikilolaimus cf. regenfussi, were investigated. Specifically, we asked: (1) whether there is an interspecific interaction between organisms competing for a mutual resource and (2) whether these interactions are altered by the competitors’ initial densities and (3) their variable growth rates (induced by different food supplies). Each treatment initially contained 48 nematode individuals, but at different species ratios (48:0; 32:16; 24:24; 16:32; 0:48). The populations were provided with three different bacterial densities (108, 109, and 1010 cells ml−1) as food. The data were analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. The best-fitting model revealed a significant decline in population growth rates with an increasing species ratio, but depending on the food density and species. These results provide strong evidence for positive interspecific interactions that vary with both species density and food-supply level. They also suggest important roles for positive interspecific interactions in habitat colonization and in maintaining the coexistence of species in the same trophic group.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to Bernd Alexander Schulz for his assistance in the laboratory work and to Christoph Ptatscheck and the anonymous reviewers for helpful remarks on previous versions of the manuscript. This research was supported by the German Federal Institute of Hydrology (BfG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Ecology, Bielefeld University, Konsequenz 45, 33615, Bielefeld, Germany

    Birgit Gansfort, Jana Uthoff & Walter Traunspurger

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  1. Birgit Gansfort
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  2. Jana Uthoff
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  3. Walter Traunspurger
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Contributions

BG and WT conceived and designed the experiment. BG and JU performed the experiment. BG, JU and WT analyzed the data. BG wrote the manuscript, JU and WT provided editorial advice.

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Correspondence to Birgit Gansfort.

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All applicable institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed.

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Communicated by Liliane Ruess.

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Gansfort, B., Uthoff, J. & Traunspurger, W. Interactions among competing nematode species affect population growth rates. Oecologia 187, 75–84 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4109-3

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