The Invasion Criterion: A Common Currency for Ecological Research

Tess Nahanni Grainger; Jonathan M Levine; Benjamin Gilbert

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2019.05.007

The Invasion Criterion: A Common Currency for Ecological Research

Trends Ecol Evol. 2019 Oct;34(10):925-935. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.05.007. Epub 2019 Jul 9.

Authors

Tess Nahanni Grainger¹, Jonathan M Levine², Benjamin Gilbert³

Affiliations

¹ Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 106A Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA. Electronic address: tessg@princeton.edu.
² Princeton University, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 106A Guyot Hall, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
³ University of Toronto, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3B2, Canada.

PMID: 31300168
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.05.007

Abstract

According to the invasion criterion, stable coexistence requires that all species in a community increase in abundance when rare, which occurs when stabilizing mechanisms cause intraspecific competition to be stronger than interspecific competition. This simple principle has traditionally been applied to tests of local coexistence in a narrow range of ecological systems. However, new theory founded on the invasion criterion is emerging across ecological fields ranging from eco-evolutionary dynamics to global change to macroecology. Concurrently, straightforward methods for testing the invasion criterion have been proposed, but remain underused. Here, we identify the invasion criterion as a common thread linking emerging ecological theory, and we bring this theory together with the methods that can be used to test it.

Keywords: fitness difference; invasion growth rates; modern coexistence theory; mutual invasibility; stabilizing niche difference.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Biological Evolution
Ecology*
Ecosystem*