Abstract
Environmental variability can promote species diversity when species respond differently to environmental conditions, via the storage effect. Pathogens, predators and other shared consumers can also facilitate coexistence when they differentially limit common species. However, it remains unclear how environmental variation and consumers interact to determine species diversity. Here, I use a model based on California annual grassland plants to show that a generalist pathogen with no host specificity can enhance the positive effect of environmental variability on diversity. The model predicts that pathogens can promote diversity by increasing the covariance between the environment and competition, enhancing the storage effect. However, pathogen impacts depend on life history. Pathogens that infect germinating seeds or plants tend to increase the storage effect, whereas those that infect dormant seeds can undermine the storage effect by eliminating population buffering during unfavorable years. These results suggest that pathogens may mediate plant responses to environmental variability and change, and in doing so may maintain diversity.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
In the model, a generalist pathogen with no host specificity enhances the positive effect of environmental variability on plant diversity.
Verbatim
e0“Here, I use a model based on California annual grassland plants to show that a generalist pathogen with no host specificity can enhance the positive effect of environmental variability on diversity”
Claim · model-written summary
The model predicts that pathogens promote diversity by increasing the covariance between the environment and competition, enhancing the storage effect.
Verbatim
e0“Here, I use a model based on California annual grassland plants to show that a generalist pathogen with no host specificity can enhance the positive effect of environmental variability on diversity”
e1“The model predicts that pathogens can promote diversity by increasing the covariance between the environment and competition, enhancing the storage effect”
Claim · model-written summary
Pathogens that infect germinating seeds or plants tend to increase the storage effect.
Verbatim
e0“Here, I use a model based on California annual grassland plants to show that a generalist pathogen with no host specificity can enhance the positive effect of environmental variability on diversity”
e2“Pathogens that infect germinating seeds or plants tend to increase the storage effect”
Claim · model-written summary
Pathogens that infect dormant seeds can undermine the storage effect by eliminating population buffering during unfavorable years.
Verbatim
e0“Here, I use a model based on California annual grassland plants to show that a generalist pathogen with no host specificity can enhance the positive effect of environmental variability on diversity”
e3“whereas those that infect dormant seeds can undermine the storage effect by eliminating population buffering during unfavorable years”