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Niche diversity in crustacean cryptic species: complementarity in spatial distribution and predation risk

  • Communitey Ecology
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Abstract

Recent genetic studies indicate that species with very close phenotypic similarity (“cryptic species”) are a common feature of nature, and that such cryptic species often coexist in communities. Because traditional views of species coexistence demand that species differ in phenotype to coexist stably, the existence of sympatric cryptic species appears to challenge traditional perspectives of coexistence. We evaluated niche diversity in three recently discovered species of Hyalella amphipods that occur sympatrically in lakes and share close phenotypic similarity. We found that, in some cases, these species exhibited strong complementary spatial distributions within the littoral zone of lakes, both across a distance-from-shore gradient, and a vertical depth gradient. Additionally, we compared fish stomach contents with habitat samples and found that species differed in their vulnerability to predation from sunfish (Lepomis spp.). Complementarity among species across axes of spatial distribution and predation risk, two important niche components, suggests that species with close phenotypic similarity may differ appreciably along ecologically relevant axes. Our results, considered in the light of previous studies, suggest a community structured by predator-mediated coexistence or sequential dominance across environmental gradients in the littoral zone.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Christine Relyea for help with field collections. The manuscript was improved by insightful comments from John White, Dan Allen, Puni Jeyasingh, and Matt Chumchal. Our work was supported by the National Science Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Biological Station, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Gary A. Wellborn & Rickey D. Cothran

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  1. Gary A. Wellborn
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  2. Rickey D. Cothran
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Correspondence to Gary A. Wellborn.

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Communicated by Carla Caceres.

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Wellborn, G.A., Cothran, R.D. Niche diversity in crustacean cryptic species: complementarity in spatial distribution and predation risk. Oecologia 154, 175–183 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0816-x

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