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Amensalism via webs causes unidirectional shifts of dominance in spider mite communities

  • Community Ecology
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Abstract

Competitive displacement is considered the most severe consequence of interspecific competition; if a superior competitor invades the habitat of an inferior species, the inferior species will be displaced. Most displacements previously reported among arthropods were caused by exotic species. The lack of investigation of displacement among native species may be due to their apparently harmonious coexistence, even if it is equivalent to an outcome of interspecific association. A seasonal change in the species composition of spider mites, from Panonychus ulmi to Tetranychus urticae, is observed in apple trees worldwide. Previous laboratory experiments have revealed amensal effects of T. urticae on P. ulmi via their webs. Using manipulation experiments in an orchard, we tested whether this seasonal change in species composition occurred as the result of interspecific competition between these spider mites. Invasion by T. urticae prevented an increase in P. ulmi densities throughout the experimental periods. Degree of overlap relative to the independent distribution on a leaf-surface basis (ω S) changed from positive to negative with increasing density of T. urticae. T. urticae invasion drove P. ulmi toward upper leaf surfaces (competitor-free space). The niche adjustment by P. ulmi occurred between leaf surfaces but not among leaves. Our findings show that asymmetrical competition between T. urticae and P. ulmi plays an important role in this unidirectional displacement and that the existence of refuges within a leaf produces the apparently harmonious coexistence of the mites and obscures their negative association.

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Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by the 21st Century Centers of Excellence Program of Innovative Food and Environmental Studies Pioneered by Entomomimetic Sciences at Kyoto University. We thank Mr S. Abe, Ms M. Fukaya and Mr H. Sato of the Akita Fruit-Tree Experiment Station for kind help and encouragement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Ecological Information, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 606-8502, Japan

    Masahiro Osakabe

  2. Akita Fruit-Tree Experiment Station, Hiraka, Akita, 013-0102, Japan

    Kimiko Hongo, Ken Funayama & Senichi Osumi

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  1. Masahiro Osakabe
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  2. Kimiko Hongo
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  3. Ken Funayama
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  4. Senichi Osumi
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Correspondence to Masahiro Osakabe.

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Communicated by Stefan Scheu.

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Osakabe, M., Hongo, K., Funayama, K. et al. Amensalism via webs causes unidirectional shifts of dominance in spider mite communities. Oecologia 150, 496–505 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-006-0560-7

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