The stability of multitrophic communities under habitat loss

Chris McWilliams, Miguel Lurgi, Jose M. Montoya, Alix Sauve and Daniel Montoya ()
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Chris McWilliams: University of Bristol
Miguel Lurgi: CNRS
Jose M. Montoya: CNRS
Alix Sauve: University of Bordeaux, Integrative and Theoretical Ecology LabEx COTE
Daniel Montoya: CNRS

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Habitat loss (HL) affects species and their interactions, ultimately altering community dynamics. Yet, a challenge for community ecology is to understand how communities with multiple interaction types—hybrid communities—respond to HL prior to species extinctions. To this end, we develop a model to investigate the response of hybrid terrestrial communities to two types of HL: random and contiguous. Our model reveals changes in stability—temporal variability in population abundances—that are dependent on the spatial configuration of HL. Our findings highlight that habitat area determines the variability of populations via changes in the distribution of species interaction strengths. The divergent responses of communities to random and contiguous HL result from different constraints imposed on individuals’ mobility, impacting diversity and network structure in the random case, and destabilising communities by increasing interaction strength in the contiguous case. Analysis of intermediate HL suggests a gradual transition between the two extreme cases.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10370-2

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