Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Competition is a major force in structuring ecological communities. It acts directly or indirectly, in which case it may be mediated by shared natural enemies and is known as 'apparent competition'. The effects of apparent competition on species coexistence are well known theoretically but have not previously been demonstrated empirically in controlled multigenerational experiments. Here we report on the population dynamic consequences of apparent competition in a laboratory insect system with two host species and a common parasitoid attacking them. We find that whereas the two separate, single host-single parasitoid interactions are persistent, the three-species system with the parasitoid attacking both hosts species (which are not allowed to compete directly) is unstable, and that one of the host species is eliminated from the interaction owing to the effects of apparent competition.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/41084

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nature

Publication Date

21/08/1997

Volume

388

Pages

371 - 373