The Role of Host Demographic Storage in the Ecological Dynamics of Heritable Symbionts

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dc.citation.firstpage446
dc.citation.issueNumber4
dc.citation.journalTitleThe American Naturalist
dc.citation.lastpage459
dc.citation.volumeNumber188
dc.contributor.authorBibian, Andrew J.
dc.contributor.authorRudgers, Jennifer A.
dc.contributor.authorMiller, Tom E.X.
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-19T19:09:40Z
dc.date.available2017-05-19T19:09:40Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.description.abstractHeritable symbioses are widespread and ecologically important. Many host organisms have complex life cycles that include diverse opportunities for symbionts to affect their host and be lost during development. Yet, existing theory takes a simplified view of host demography. Here, we generalize symbiosis theory to understand how demographic “storage” in the form of dormant or prereproductive life stages can modify symbiosis dynamics. Using grass-endophyte symbioses as context, we developed models to contrast the role of the seed bank (a storage stage) against the reproductive stage in symbiont persistence and prevalence. We find that the seed bank is as important as or more important than the reproductive stage in driving symbiont dynamics, as long as passage through the seed bank is obligate. Flexible entry to the seed bank substantially weakens its influence on symbiont persistence but can modify prevalence in counterintuitive ways. Our models identify a role for legacy effects, where hosts that lose symbionts retain their demographic influence. The retention of benefits via legacy effects can reduce symbiont prevalence and even cause prevalence to decline with increasing benefits to hosts because symbiont-free hosts carry those benefits. Our results resolve connections between individual-level host-symbiont interactions and population-level patterns, providing guidance for empirical studies.
dc.identifier.citationBibian, Andrew J., Rudgers, Jennifer A. and Miller, Tom E.X.. "The Role of Host Demographic Storage in the Ecological Dynamics of Heritable Symbionts." <i>The American Naturalist,</i> 188, no. 4 (2016) The University of Chicago Press: 446-459. https://doi.org/10.1086/687965.
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1086/687965
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1911/94301
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherThe University of Chicago Press
dc.rightsArticle is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
dc.subject.keywordhost-symbiont dynamics
dc.subject.keyworddemographic modeling
dc.subject.keywordstage-structured populations
dc.subject.keywordmutualism
dc.subject.keywordEpichloë
dc.subject.keywordfungal endophyte
dc.titleThe Role of Host Demographic Storage in the Ecological Dynamics of Heritable Symbionts
dc.typeJournal article
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.publicationpublisher version
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