ArticleNature ecology & evolution2017
Competing species leave many potential niches unfilled.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed.
- Spatial analysis and niche overlap of two lapwing (Genus: Vanellus) species in the confluence of two biodiversity hotspots in South Asia.Biologia futura · 2026Article
- Multidimensional coevolution drives predator coexistence.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Beyond Species Averages: Intraspecific Trait Variation Reveals Functional Convergence Under Invasion.Insects · 2025Article
- Helping niches may trigger the development of task specialization and division of labour.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2025Review
- Niche differentiation among facultative filter feeders: Insights from invasive Ponto-Caspian mysids.Current zoology · 2024Article
- Nutrient status changes bacterial interactions in a synthetic community.Applied and environmental microbiology · 2024Article
- Analyzing the distribution patterns and dynamic niche ofFrontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Rapid Adaptation ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Is species richness mediated by functional and genetic divergence? A global analysis in birds.Functional ecology · 2023Article
- Antigenic evolution of SARS-CoV-2 in immunocompromised hosts.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2023Article
- General statistical model shows that macroevolutionary patterns and processes are consistent with Darwinian gradualism.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Eco-Evolutionary Dynamics in Microbial Communities from Spontaneous Fermented Foods.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
- Obligate cross-feeding expands the metabolic niche of bacteria.Nature ecology & evolution · 2021Article
- Genomic analysis of field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense) provides insights into mechanisms of adaptation to high elevation.BMC biology · 2021Article
- Complex yeast-bacteria interactions affect the yield of industrial ethanol fermentation.Nature communications · 2021Article
- Article
- Adaptive Bet-Hedging Revisited: Considerations of Risk and Time Horizon.Bulletin of mathematical biology · 2020Article
- Determinants of high residual post-PCV13 pneumococcal vaccine-type carriage in Blantyre, Malawi: a modelling study.BMC medicine · 2019Article
- Competition for hosts modulates vast antigenic diversity to generate persistent strain structure in Plasmodium falciparum.PLoS biology · 2019Article
- Costless metabolic secretions as drivers of interspecies interactions in microbial ecosystems.Nature communications · 2019Article
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5 authors.
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Abstract
A cornerstone of biology is that coexisting species evolve to occupy separate ecological niches. Classical theory predicts that interspecific competition should lead to all potential niches being occupied, yet observational data suggest that many niches are unfilled. Here we show that theory can be reconciled with observational data by reconceptualising competition in the Hutchinsonian niche space to distinguish between substitutable and non-substitutable resources. When resources are substitutable (e.g. seeds of different size), the components of competition along the niche axes combine multiplicatively, leading to a densely packed niche space. However, when resources are non-substitutable (e.g. seeds and nest sites), we show that the components of competition combine additively. Disruptive selection therefore limits niche overlap between non-substitutable niche axes, leaving most potential niches unfilled. A key corollary is that increasing the number of niche axes may greatly increase the number of potential niches but does not necessarily increase diversity. We discuss observational data that are consistent with our model and consider implications for systems with invasive species. Our work reinforces the power of competition to drive major ecological patterns: while niche space informs on species that might exist, only a small and potentially arbitrary subset will coexist in sympatry.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.