Metacommunity ecology emphasizes the role of dispersal in linking local processes across space. Competition is one such local process that can be affected by dispersal. Dispersal can influence intraspecific trait variation, thereby affecting the strength of intraspecific competition and, consequently, the relative importance of intraversus interspecific interactions. Prior research has shown th...

We study the global and blow-up solutions for a strong degenerate reaction–diffusion system modeling the interactions of two biological species. The local existence and uniqueness of a classical solution are established. We further give the critical exponent for reaction and absorption terms for the existence of global and blow-up solutions. We show that the solution may blow up if the intraspe...

The classic evolutionary hypothesis of ecological opportunity proposes that both heterogeneity of resources and freedom from enemies promote phenotypic divergence as a response to increased niche availability. Although phenotypic divergence and speciation have often been inferred to be the primary consequences of the release from competition or predation that accompanies a shift to a new adapti...

Population density affects individual performance, though its effects are often mixed. For sessile species, increases in population density typically reduce performance. Still, cases of positive density-dependence do occur in sessile systems and demand explanation. The stress gradient hypothesis (SGH) predicts that under stressful conditions, positive effects of facilitation may outweigh the ne...

Spatial heterogeneity in two co-variable resources such as light and water availability is common and can affect the growth of clonal plants. Several studies have tested effects of spatial heterogeneity in the supply of a single resource on competitive interactions of plants, but none has examined those of heterogeneous distribution of two co-variable resources. In a greenhouse experiment, we g...

Competition and parasitism are two important selective forces that shape life-histories, migration rates and population dynamics. Recently, it has been shown in various pathosystems that parasites can modify intraspecific competition, thus generating an indirect cost of parasitism. Here, we investigated if this phenomenon was present in a plant-potyvirus system using two viruses of different vi...