Cascading benefits of mutualists' predators on foundation species: A model inspired by coral reef ecosystems

Abstract

Abstract Multispecies mutualisms are embedded in a network of interactions that include predation, yet the effects of predation on mutualism function have not been well integrated into mutualism theory. Where predators have been considered, the common prediction is that predators reduce mutualist abundance and, as a consequence, decrease service provision. Here, we use a mathematical model of a predatory fish that consumes two competing coral mutualists to show that predators can also have indirect positive effects on hosts when they preferentially consume competitively dominant mutualists that are also lower in quality. In these cases, predation reverses the outcome of competition, allowing the higher quality mutualist to dominate and enhancing host performance. The direction and strength of predator effects depend on asymmetries in mutualist competition, service provision, and predation vulnerability. Our findings suggest that when the strength of predation shifts (e.g., due to exploitative harvest of top predators, introduction of new species, or range shifts in response to climate change), mutualist communities will exhibit dynamic responses with nonmonotonic effects on host service provision.

Keywords

• coral reefs
• foundation species
• Lotka–Volterra competition