Facilitation thinking for coexistence theory

Facilitation thinking for coexistence theory | Authorea try { document.documentElement.classList.add('js'); } catch (e) { } var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'G-8VDV14Y67G']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); Skip to main content Preprints Collections Wiley Open Research IET Open Research Ecological Society of Japan All Collections About About Authorea FAQs Contact Us Quick Search anywhere Search for preprint articles, keywords, etc. Search Search ADVANCED SEARCH SCROLL Ecology Letters This is a preprint and has not been peer reviewed. Data may be preliminary. 10 January 2025 V1 Latest version Share on Facilitation thinking for coexistence theory Authors : Aubrie James , Margaret Mayfield 0000-0002-5101-6542 , and Malyon Bimler 0000-0003-0059-2360 [email protected] Authors Info & Affiliations https://doi.org/10.22541/au.173651626.60852376/v1 Published Ecology Letters Version of record Peer review timeline 437 views 322 downloads Contents Abstract Supplementary Material Information & Authors Metrics & Citations View Options References Figures Tables Media Share Abstract Species interactions are foundational to biodiversity maintenance. Facilitation, a common outcome of species interactions, occurs among and between a wide variety of organisms yet its treatment in the theory and models used to predict species coexistence is underdeveloped. We ask why this is and speculate about how to address this apparent discrepancy. We first evaluate a persistent ambivalence to facilitation in the context of population and community ecology, particularly in contemporary coexistence theory. We then propose “facilitation thinking” to remedy the gap between empirical evidence of facilitation and mathematical theory of coexistence. We briefly discuss how a holistic treatment of facilitation in theory has the potential to reconfigure our basic understanding and definition of coexistence. Ultimately, we argue for an expanded theory of coexistence that accounts for a diversity of species interaction outcomes, allowing for the study of interactions and diversity maintenance beyond the war of all against all. Supplementary Material File (facilitation_viewpoint.pdf) Download 452.66 KB Information & Authors Information Version history V1 Version 1 10 January 2025 Peer review timeline Published Ecology Letters Version of Record 19 Jun 2025 Published Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License. Collection Ecology Letters Keywords coexistence competition diversity ecological theory facilitation holism reductionism species interactions Authors Affiliations Aubrie James MIT View all articles by this author Margaret Mayfield 0000-0002-5101-6542 The University of Melbourne School of BioSciences View all articles by this author Malyon Bimler 0000-0003-0059-2360 [email protected] University of Queensland School of Biological Sciences View all articles by this author Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 437 views 322 downloads .FvxKWukQNSOunydq8rnd { width: 100px; } Citations Download citation Aubrie James, Margaret Mayfield, Malyon Bimler. Facilitation thinking for coexistence theory. Authorea . 10 January 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.173651626.60852376/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. 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