Eco-evolutionary feedback as a driver of periodic state shifts in tri-trophic food chains

Abstract Eco-evolutionary feedback can result in periodic shifts with long intervals between alternative community states. Simulations using a linear food chain model, namely the resource-prey-predator system with prey evolution have shown such an ecologically unfeasible pattern of long-term dynamics. The alternative community states are characterized by stable internal equilibria and fast synchronized perturbations at the lower two trophic levels. This trait-mediated community shift was governed by the evolution of the anti-predator trait of prey and is referred to as “eco-evolutionary oscillation (EEO)”. The observed EEO was interpreted to be because of the interaction between community ecological dynamics and trait evolution. We further examined the effects of genetic variation on the trait-performance relationship on the global stability of the community. The rapid evolutionary rate with high genetic variance and the strong relationship between trait values and predator avoidance tended to stabilize eco-evolutionary dynamics and cause the EEO to vanish.